From taonga to blue‑chip art: How value is shifting in Aotearoa
Monday, 18 May 2026
Aotearoa’s only fulltime corporate art and collections valuer says New Zealanders are becoming more serious about collecting — and more aware of the cultural and financial risks tied to the works they own.
Ben Ashley, who leads Aon’s Art & Collections valuation and risk advisory service across Asia Pacific and New Zealand, works with private collectors, galleries, museums and cultural institutions. With 15 years’ experience in the field, he provides appraisals for insurance, financial reporting and market assessment, and advises clients on environmental, security and market risks.
Ashley says no two weeks look the same. One day he may be working with a museum on a full collection revaluation; the next, advising a private collector on how to structure and insure a growing portfolio.
“At its core, my role is about helping people understand what they own, what it’s exposed to, and how to protect it,” he says. “It’s about giving people confidence that their collection is understood, protected, and aligned with their broader financial and cultural goals.”
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When assessing a work, Ashley says value is shaped by artist significance, provenance, rarity, condition and market depth. In New Zealand, liquidity is especially important. “There’s a relatively small group of artists where demand is consistent and pricing is well supported.”
The biggest misconception, he says, is that value is fixed. “People often anchor to what they paid, or a single auction result. But the same work can carry very different values depending on the purpose.” Fair value reflects the current market, while insurance value reflects the cost to replace the work — and in a tight market, the gap between the two can be significant.
Ashley’s work often takes him into private homes, where he sees collections in the context they are actually lived with rather than displayed. That reveals the layered nature of value: financial, sentimental, cultural and tied to family history. “Often, it’s those stories that give a collection its real depth.”
He has also handled some of the country’s most significant historical material, including founding documents and artefacts linked to early encounters between Māori and European explorers. These objects, he says, carry “deeply charged” meanings. “They sit at the point where different worlds collided and carry very different meanings depending on perspective. They’re a powerful reminder that value isn’t just financial — it’s cultural, historical, and often deeply personal.”
In many cases, there isn’t a conventional market for such items, shifting the emphasis to stewardship and responsibility.
Ashley sees similar dynamics in private collections. “The most compelling are those that are truly lived with, where works are embedded in the home and their stories are known and shared.” But he has also seen how easily works can be damaged or lost, reinforcing the importance of understanding and protecting their value.
He believes New Zealanders are increasingly viewing art as both cultural taonga and part of a broader asset base. Strengthening values have driven more engagement with valuations and insurance, but cultural meaning remains central. “Many works carry meaning that goes well beyond market value, particularly Māori and Pacific taonga. That requires balance. It’s not just about value. It’s about care, preservation and continuity.”
Ashley’s work spans everything from surfboard memorabilia to major historical works, and he says the principles remain the same regardless of the object: understand the item, the market and the risk. What changes is the application. For actively traded works, the focus is on keeping values aligned with the market. For culturally significant items, the emphasis shifts to reinstatement, conservation and structuring cover where the market may be limited.
For those starting or growing a collection, Ashley’s advice is simple: begin with curiosity, then build knowledge. “Spend time in galleries, go to exhibitions, and talk to people. Relationships with galleries are invaluable.”
He suggests thinking in tiers: emerging artists at the entry level, more established artists with clearer sales histories in the mid‑tier, and blue‑chip or culturally significant works at the top end, where protection and stewardship become paramount.
“Across every tier, the fundamentals are the same,” he says. “Know what you own. Keep records. Review values. Make sure it’s properly insured. The best collections aren’t just well curated. They’re well understood and actively managed.”