Methodology

How We Authenticate

Rinkya Authentication uses the same vocabulary the world's major auction houses use. Every verdict on every cert is written in this established scale so collectors, insurers, courts, and tax authorities read it the same way.

Sotheby's. Christie's. AAA. Same scale.

Tested in court for over a century.

Auction-house catalogue terms ("By", "Attributed to", "Studio of", "After", etc.) have been litigated, defended, and refined since the late 19th century. They are the working vocabulary of professional appraisal under AAA, ASA, and USPAP standards, and the recognized language of IRS Form 8283 / Pub 561 charitable-donation appraisals.

A binary "authentic / inauthentic" verdict throws away real information. Three axes capture what a buyer actually needs to know: who made it (and with what certainty), whether the markings on it are genuine, and what physical condition and production role the piece holds.

Axis 1

Attribution: who made it

A descending scale of certainty. Each term has a precise meaning that has been refined and tested through more than a century of catalogue practice. We pick the term that matches the evidence; we never overstate.

Term	日本語	Meaning
By [Entity]	真筆	In our opinion, a work by the named entity. Highest certainty. Example: "By Toei Animation, Dragon Ball Z, Episode 124, scene 47."
Attributed to	伝	Probably a work by the entity, with some uncertainty. Example: "Attributed to Toei Animation, Dragon Ball Z — production unconfirmed."
Studio of	〜工房	Executed in the entity's studio, possibly under supervision. Example: "Studio of Toei Animation" when the specific production is not identifiable.
Workshop of	Workshop of	By the entity's workshop: pupils, assistants, or subcontractors working under the master / studio system. In Japanese animation, this covers junior animators under a senior key animator's direction, and subcontracted cel painting (Studio Liberty, AIC, etc., painting for Toei).
Circle of	Circle of	A work of the period of the entity, closely related to their style. Outside the direct studio system but contemporaneous.
School of	〜派	A work in the style of the entity's school. The Japanese fine-art tradition uses this for established schools like the 狩野派 or 琳派.
Follower of	Follower of	Executed in the entity's style but not necessarily by a pupil. Same period or shortly after.
Manner of	Manner of	In the entity's style but of a later date. Often a tribute or pastiche, not an imitation intended to deceive.
After	〜の写し	A copy of a known work by the entity, by another hand. Example: a recreation of a specific famous cel made for study or display.
Inconclusive	判定不能	Evidence insufficient to attribute. We do not guess. Inconclusive is a real verdict and we issue it when the evidence supports it.
Inauthentic	贋作	The claimed attribution is provably wrong. We document the specific evidence that drives this conclusion.

Japanese terminology: established native terms (真筆 / 伝 / 〜工房 / 〜派 / 〜の写し / 判定不能 / 贋作) are used where the Japanese fine-art tradition has clean equivalents. The English term is kept inline where the Sotheby's distinction (Workshop of, Circle of, Follower of, Manner of) has no widely-agreed Japanese counterpart, to preserve precision.

Axis 2

Markings: signatures, stamps, production numbers

Independent of attribution. A piece can be genuinely "By Toei Animation" yet bear a signature added years later by an unrelated party. We assess the markings separately and say so plainly.

Term	日本語	Meaning
Genuine	本物	All markings appear genuine and consistent with the period and production.
Partial	一部本物	Some markings genuine, some added later or by another hand. We document which is which.
Not genuine	後筆	Markings added by another hand. (The polite catalogue phrase for "the signature was added by someone other than the artist.") Does not necessarily say anything about the underlying piece's attribution.
No markings present	銘記なし	The piece carries no markings. Common for some production-stage pieces; not a concern in isolation.

For animation, markings include studio stamps, sequence numbers, paint code stamps, animator initials, douga numbers, color script notes, dating stamps. Each is assessed where present.

Axis 3

Condition and production role

Physical state is captured by our standardized grading system. Production role distinguishes how the piece was used in the studio pipeline. A production cel and a bank cel can both be genuine, they just played different roles.

Condition (S–F scale)

Visual condition grade plus category-specific condition flags (paint loss, line fading, vinegar syndrome, etc.). Each category has its own standard.

Grading reference →

Cel production role

Production cel	Used in the final aired frame.
Bank cel	Legitimate studio inventory not used in the final frame.
Promotional	Promotional, publicity, or merchandise piece.

Shown only on cel records. Other production stages (genga, douga, settei, layout, background) are captured by the existing category field.

Who renders the verdict

The expert whose name is on the certificate is the expert who did the work.

Rinkya verdicts are rendered by Heather Russell, the only AAA-accredited appraiser in the United States specializing in Japanese animation art, USPAP-compliant, IRS qualified appraiser. Independent Certifier partners render verdicts under their own brand using the same scale.

Meet the Authentication Committee →