Editing Provenance (section)

==Works of art and antiques==
The provenance of works of [[fine art]], antiques and [[antiquities]] is of great importance, especially to their owner. There are a number of reasons why painting provenance is important, which mostly also apply to other types of fine art. A good provenance increases the value of a painting, and establishing provenance may help confirm the date, artist and, especially for portraits, the subject of a painting. It may confirm whether a painting is genuinely of the period it seems to date from. The provenance of paintings can help resolve ownership disputes. For example, provenance between 1933 and 1945 can determine whether a painting was [[Nazi plunder|looted by the Nazis]].<ref name="nationalmuseums.org.uk">{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/contributing-sector/spoliation/|title=Spoliation of Works of Art during the Holocaust and World War II period |publisher=National Museum Directors' Council Website |website=www.nationalmuseums.org.uk |access-date=10 February 2019 }}</ref>

Many galleries are putting a great deal of effort into researching the provenance of paintings in their collections for which there is no firm provenance during that period.<ref name="nationalmuseums.org.uk"/> Documented evidence of provenance for an object can help to establish that it has not been altered and is not a forgery, a reproduction, [[art theft|stolen]] or [[looted art]]. Provenance helps assign the work to a known artist, and a documented history can be of use in helping to prove ownership. An example of a detailed provenance is given in [[Arnolfini Portrait#Provenance|the Arnolfini portrait]].

The quality of provenance of an important work of art can make a considerable difference to its selling price in the market. This is affected by the degree of certainty of the provenance, the status of past owners as collectors, and in many cases by the strength of evidence that an object has not been illegally excavated or exported from another country. The provenance of a work of art may vary greatly in length, depending on context or the amount that is known, from a single name to an entry in a scholarly catalogue some thousands of words long.

An expert [[certification]] can mean the difference between an object having no value and being worth a fortune. Certifications themselves may be open to question. [[Jacques van Meegeren]] forged the work of his father [[Han van Meegeren]], who had forged the work of [[Vermeer]]. Jacques sometimes produced a certificate with his forgeries, stating that a work was created by his father.

[[John Drewe]] was able to pass off as genuine paintings, a large number of forgeries that would have easily been recognised as such by scientific examination. He established an impressive, but false provenance. Because of this, galleries and dealers accepted the paintings as genuine. He created this false provenance by forging letters and other documents, including false entries in earlier exhibition catalogues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum-security.org/myatt-drewe.htm|title=A 20th Century Master Scam|access-date=2012-03-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225051837/http://www.museum-security.org/myatt-drewe.htm|archive-date=2012-02-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sometimes provenance can be as simple as a photograph of the item with its original owner. Simple yet definitive documentation such as that can increase its value by an order of magnitude, but only if the owner was of high renown. Many items that were sold at auction have gone far past their estimates because of a photograph showing that item with a famous person. Some examples include antiques owned by politicians, musicians, artists, actors, etc.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.talkauctions.com/a-2-6-million-lesson-about-provenance/ |title=A $2.6 Million Lesson About Provenance &#124; Talk Auctions |access-date=2014-08-24 |archive-date=2014-08-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161233/http://www.talkauctions.com/a-2-6-million-lesson-about-provenance/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In the context of discussions about the [[Report on the restitution of African cultural heritage|restitution of cultural objects in museum collections of colonial origin]], the [[Royal Museum for Central Africa|AfricaMuseum]] in Belgium started to publicly present information about such objects in its permanent exhibition in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Provenance of the collections|url=https://www.africamuseum.be/en/learn/provenance|access-date=2022-01-01|website=Royal Museum for Central Africa - Tervuren - Belgium|language=en}}</ref>

===Researching the provenance of paintings===
[[File:SirWilliamPetre.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[William Petre|Sir William Petre]], 1567: artist unknown. By the turn of the 17th century, this portrait was in the [[Lumley inventories|collection]] of [[John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley|John, 1st Baron Lumley]], a fact indicated by the ''[[cartellino]]'' added to the painting at the upper right. It is now in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]]]]
The objective of provenance research is to produce a complete list of owners (together, where possible, with the supporting documentary proof) from when the painting was commissioned or in the artist's studio through to the present time. In practice, there are likely to be gaps in the list and documents that are missing or lost. The documented provenance should also list when the painting has been part of an exhibition and a [[bibliography]] of when it has been discussed, or illustrated in print.

Where the research is proceeding backwards, to discover the previous provenance of a painting whose current ownership and location are known, it is important to record the physical details of the painting – style, subject, signature, materials, dimensions, frame, etc.<ref>Reynolds, Lisa, ''An Art Provenance Research Guide'' available at [http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/s_papers&CISOPTR=1071&CISOBOX=1&REC=15 University of North Carolina Master's Papers] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120707092307/http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/s_papers&CISOPTR=1071&CISOBOX=1&REC=15 |date=2012-07-07 }}</ref> The titles of paintings and the attribution to a particular artist may change over time. The size of the work and its description can be used to identify earlier references to the painting.

The back of a painting can contain significant provenance information. There may be exhibition marks, dealer stamps, gallery labels and other indications of previous ownership. There may be shipping labels. In the BBC TV programme ''[[Fake or Fortune?]]'' the provenance of the painting ''[[Bords de la Seine à Argenteuil]]'' was investigated using a gallery sticker and shipping label on the back. Early provenance can sometimes be indicated by a ''[[cartellino]]'', a ''[[trompe-l'œil]]'' representation of an inscribed label, added to the front of a painting.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/glossary/cartellino |title=Cartellino |publisher=The National Gallery |location=London |work=Glossary |access-date=31 July 2018 }}</ref> However, these can be forged, or can fade or be painted over.

Auction records are an important resource to assist in researching the provenance of paintings.
* The [[Witt Library]] houses a collection of cuttings from auction catalogs which enables the researcher to identify occasions when a picture has been sold.
* The Heinz Library at the [[National Portrait Gallery, London]] maintains a similar collection, but restricted to portraits.
* The National Art Library at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] has a collection of UK sales catalogues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/courseReserves/landing#?courseSearchField=all&courseQuery=&includeInactiveCourses=true&includeActiveCourses=false&page=1&sortBy=coursename|title=Course Reserves - nal-vam.on.worldcat.org|website=nal-vam.on.worldcat.org}}</ref>
* The University of York is establishing a web site with on-line resources for investigating art history in the period 1660–1735.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artworld.york.ac.uk/the-database|title=The Art World in Britain 1660–1735|access-date=2021-01-22}}</ref> This includes diaries, sales catalogues, bills, correspondence and inventories. 
* The [[Getty Research Institute]] in Los Angeles has a ''Project for the Study of Collecting and Provenance'' (PSCP) which includes an on-line database, still being compiled, of auction and other records relating to painting provenance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/provenance/charts.html|title=What's covered in the Indexes (Getty Research Institute)|website=www.getty.edu}}</ref>
* The [[Frick Art Reference Library]] in New York has an extensive collection of auction and exhibition catalogues.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.frick.org/research/library|title=Frick Art Reference Library |publisher=The Frick Collection|website=www.frick.org |access-date=10 February 2019 }}</ref>
* The [[Netherlands Institute for Art History]] (RKD) has a number of databases related to artists from the Netherlands.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://english.rkd.nl/Databases |title=Netherlands Institute for Art History Databases |access-date=2012-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916233914/http://english.rkd.nl/Databases |archive-date=2012-09-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

If a painting has been in private hands for an extended period and on display in a [[stately home]], it may be recorded in an inventory – for example, the [[Lumley inventories|Lumley inventory]].<ref>''Dynasties'', a catalogue of an exhibition at the Tate Gallery, Karen Hearn, page 158</ref> The painting may also have been noticed by a visitor who subsequently wrote about it. It may have been mentioned in a will or a diary. Where the painting has been bought from a dealer, or changed hands in a private transaction, there may be a bill of sale or sales receipt that provides evidence of provenance. Where the artist is known, there may be a {{lang|fr|[[catalogue raisonné]]}} listing all the artist's known works and their location at the time of writing. A database of {{lang|fr|catalogues raisonné}} is available at the [http://www.ifar.org/cat_rais.php International Foundation for Art Research].<ref name="Grosvenor">{{cite web|url=https://www.arthistorynews.com/|title=Art History News |first=Bendor |last=Grosvenor |author-link=Bendor Grosvenor |website=www.arthistorynews.com}}</ref>

Historic photos of the painting may be discussed and illustrated in a more general work on the artist, period or genre. Similarly, a photograph of a painting may show inscriptions (or a signature) that subsequently became lost as a result of overzealous restoration. Conversely, a photograph may show that an inscription was not visible at an earlier date. One of the disputed aspects of the [[The Rice portrait|"Rice" portrait]] of [[Jane Austen]] concerns apparent inscriptions identifying artist and sitter.<ref name="Grosvenor"/>