Ken Linsner lives surrounded by Tibetan thangka and Samurai swords, Japanese paintings, and plenty of books — several libraries’ worth. It’s the life of the mind as lived in the world of art and every conceivable art object possible, from an older aunt’s long-held paintings to that silverware collection passed down through the generations to a rare Tibetan kapala — sacred sculpted skull.

As an appraiser of fine and decorative arts since 1970, and president of Art Services International Group, Linsner, ASA, SCV, is an author, appraiser and oconservator who has traveled the world looking at art objects — including for families such as the Vanderbilts, Mars, Harrimans and Forbes. And on Sunday, April 15, Linsner will set up shop at Harmony Hall in Sloatsburg to see if you might have ‘cash in your attic’ or an old item of great value hidden in plain sight.

“The way we work it,” said Linsner, who can extemporaneously tap into his vast wealth of art knowledge on nearly any subject. “We’ll examine objects. We’re going to have up and running our WiFi hotspot so we’ll have access to records.” And from there, Linsner and his colleague will try to determine if the object before them has any value.

Got Treasure? at Harmony Hall will provide a chance for people with hidden attic treasures to have them evaluated by a keen professional eye.

“You can look [things] up all day long on the internet,” said Linsner, “and you can get 80 thousand different values for it.” The professional eye of an experienced appraiser helps determine the actual value of an object by weighing intangibles such as condition and current state of the object. There are also hidden variables such as provenance — or the chronology of ownership and the object’s place in the world of art.

Linsner likens going online to determine an object’s value to going to the library to learn chemistry. “Well, everything you need to know about chemistry is there,” he said. But try learning chemistry that way. Most art and cultural items have a specific time and place that gives them value. Linsner has spent a lifetime learning about those secrets.

“I didn’t grow up with any art,” Linsner said. “I didn’t inherit anything. Growing up in my house there was no art. There were plaques of Tahitian girls that today would be collectible. I started collecting books when I was 11. By the time I was 12 or 13, I was buying and selling and trading books. When I started going to NYU, I worked at the Brooklyn Museum Gallery shop, that was a leased department at the time, where I began buying little tidbits of art other than books.”

Linsner has called Sloatsburg home for nearly 36 years, traveling frequently to his office in New York City. He has a wealth of knowledge on art and cultural objects of varying quality.

Linsner will lead off the afternoon with a free lecture on the decoration and customs that defined Jacob Sloat, an early industrialist and inventor who built Harmony Hall in 1848. Sloat’s wealth was amassed harnessing the power of the Ramapo River to spin his cotton twine. Sloat became very a wealthy man at the dawn of the Gilded Age. Linsner will speak about the customs and décor of the mid-19th century, which is the period when Jacob Sloat and his family were in residency.

Afterward, Linsner will be staying for Got Treasure? and will evaluate decorative items you may wish to bring – up to 3 items for $15. Linsner will also advise participants about any further steps necessary to authenticate or evaluate objects of great interest.

Got Treasure? at Harmony Hall takes place Sunday, April 15, from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. For $15, guests can present nearly any object for evaluation — except coins or stamps, which involve grading. All proceeds from Got Treasure? go to support mansion restoration.

Harmony Hall ~ Jacob Sloat House is located at 15 Liberty Rock Road in the Village of Sloatsburg, NY. For more information on this event, the free lecture or on the restoration of Harmony Hall, please visit Friends Of Harmony Hall or telephone 845.712.5220. Directions are also available online.

More At SloatsburgVillage

Vernal Equinox Celebrated — The Friends of Harmony Hall put on a celebration to welcome in spring.