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Appraisal Day™
was founded with the simple concept
of providing people with the information they need to learn
about and value
their items.
Paul
Royka’s passion for objects, history & philosophy of art
began at an early age. What began as a hobby for his
parents, blossomed into a full time obsession. He
consigned his first item to a major auction house at the age
of twelve. He combined his academic pursuits with his love
of art & antiques by attaining a B.A. from Clark University,
Worcester, MA and a Masters Degree in Philosophy from
Claremont Graduate University in California. He also attended St. Andrews University in Scotland where he
received a certificate in philosophy and received an Oxford
travel grant to present a paper on ethics at the University of Lublin,
Poland.
Returning to
Massachusetts to pursue a career in the
fine arts & antiques trade, he managed a premier 20th
Century gallery in Boston and at age 25 joined Skinner Inc.,
the 4th largest auction house in the U.S. to
appraise, auction and catalogue fine art and antiques.
During his tenure at Skinner Inc., he set several world
records including $112,000 for a Weller floor vase, more
than doubling the previous record price at auction. Mr.
Royka authored two highly acclaimed antique reference books
entitled, Mission Furniture (now in its second
edition) and Fireworks: New England Art Pottery from the
Arts & Crafts Movement.
Formerly an
appraiser on the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, at age 26 he
was invited to be an appraiser at the first show taped in
Concord, Massachusetts and has appeared over 14 times on the
program.
He has been featured or mentioned on HGTV's Appraisal Fair,
Business Week and Reader's Digest and many other
publications.
Early in its development, he transitioned to the Internet as an auction consultant for
major corporations such as AuctionUniverse.com and
LiveBid.com which was acquired by Amazon.com. At
Amazon.com, he was a consultant for online auction strategies
and live Internet bidding technology including working with Sothebys.com.
After Amazon.com, he consulted with venture capital firms
I-Group Hotbank and Jafco Ventures creating the first eBay
seller drop off model for an Internet company.
Mr. Royka
is currently the owner of Royka's Gallery providing appraisal,
auction and consulting services for fine art, antiques &
real estate for
private individuals, banks, trust departments, museums and
institutions. Royka's Gallery also represents and
exhibits a select group of living artists with an emphasis
on American Impressionism, Realism & Luminism. The gallery is located on 213 Newbury Street
in Boston’s prestigious Back Bay and has served clients
around the world including
England,
France, Italy, South Korea, South Africa, China & Japan.
He also works as an agent for clients building and selling
collections with other galleries and auction houses
including Sotheby’s & Christies.
In
2003, Royka's Gallery was chosen to handle
the sale of the John Singleton Copley portrait of Elizabeth Apthorp, 1771.
Mr. Royka has appraised and sold major discoveries
including an unsigned painting by William Bradford selling at
his auction for $241,000, a luminous Francis Silva painting sold for $270,000
and recently a group of 19th
century Western posters selling for over $280,000.
Mr.
Royka lectures at museums, colleges and institutions across
the United States. He was most recently recognized for his
contributions to the National Auctioneers Association and
raised over $50,000 for charitable organizations through his
appraisal and charity auction services. His memberships have
included the National Auctioneers Association, Massachusetts
Auctioneers Association, American Art Pottery Association,
Ephemera Society of America and the Appraisers Association
of America. Royka’s proudly supports the New England Museum
Association and has been an affiliate member of the Massachusetts
Bar Association & Boston Estate Planning Council.
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