Editing Provenance (section)

==Pianos==
Provenance for [[Piano history and musical performance|pianos]] is authenticated before a piano is inducted into a museum,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Partridge |first1=Kenneth |title=15 Famous Pianos That You Can Visit |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/85008/15-famous-pianos-you-can-visit |website=MentalFloss.com |date=15 September 2016 |publisher=Mental Floss NY |access-date=15 September 2016}}</ref> sold at an auction, or appraised for an estate or legal action, when it has extraordinary value in connection to a composer, performer, event or location that has become famous.<ref>{{cite news|title= John Lennon's Historic Baldwin Concert Grand Piano Up For Auction In Towson |url=https://huntvalleylife.town.news/g/timonium-md/n/171037/towson-auction |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=Newspaper |publisher=Hunt Valley Life |date=2 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=John Lennon at 80: George Michael-owned Imagine piano put on display|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-54450152 |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=Newspaper |agency=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=7 October 2020}}</ref>  For example, the piano that [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] used during the final 10 years of his life, is on display in the Mozarteum<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Website |url=http://www.mozarteum.at |website=Mozarteum.at |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref> Museum in Salzberg, one of many historical pianos in museums around the world.  The 300,000th Steinway piano that was presented to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by Theodore Steinway, on behalf of the Steinway family<ref>{{cite web |title=Treasures of the White House |url=https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/treasures-of-the-white-house-steinway-grand-piano |website=White House History |publisher=The White House Historical Society |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref> is on display in the White House.  It is one of many pianos with a provenance that have extraordinary value because of art, sculpture or design incorporated into the cabinet.  It has legs carved into golden eagles and figures painted on the body of the piano.

For a piano, provenance can be established by starting with the authentication of the brand of manufacture and serial number, which will usually identify age.  Then bills of sale, tuning records, bills of lading,<ref>{{cite news |title=What is a Bill of Lading? Why's it so important? |url=https://www.truckersnews.com/trucking-101/article/15114214/what-is-a-bill-of-lading-whys-it-so-important |access-date=5 September 2023 |publisher=Trucker's News |date=1 September 2021}}</ref> concert programs that identify a piano by serial number, letters, famous signatures inside or on the outside of a piano, statements under oath in a court of law and photographs can all help authenticate a piano's provenance.

===Piano Provenance and Valuation===

Pianos can sell for millions of dollars, when the provenance is significant enough to increase its value well beyond what it would be worth as a musical instrument alone.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schrader |first1=Adam |title=This Piano—Purchased by John Lennon, Gifted to Sam Green, Then Loaned to Andy Warhol—Could Ring Up $3 Million at Auction |url=https://news.artnet.com/market/john-lennons-andy-warhol-piano-auction-2343067 |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=Online Magazine |agency=Art Net News |publisher=Art Net |date=7 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Staff |first1=Hunt Valley |title=John Lennon's Historic Baldwin Concert Grand Piano Up For Auction In Towson}}</ref>

When decisions need to be made in a court of law for a bankruptcy, or before a piano goes up for auction, or when an educational institution needs to establish a value for a deed of trust being established with the gift of a piano, then experts are usually hired to authenticate the piano's provenance.

Piano provenance has emerged as a field of study with experts having college degrees in some specialty connected to the piano or to art combined with professional training and experience in the field.

Most experts belong to some form of association.  For example, Karen Earle Lile niece of [[Tony Terran]] and [[Kendall Ross Bean]], members of the Preservations Artisans Guild,<ref>{{cite news |title=HIDDEN STORIES OF ICONIC LOST LENNON-ONO-GREEN-WARHOL PIANO |url=https://preservationartisans.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=b5313916d0e32150ec6300d37&id=8061ce2001&e=1a153a9c94 |access-date=4 September 2023 |publisher=Preservation Artisans Guild |date=29 August 2023}}</ref> were chosen <ref>{{cite news |last1=Fusek |first1=Maggie |title=Lennon, Ono, Warhol Linked To Lost Baldwin by Bay Area Experts: The story behind the iconic Lennon-Ono-Green-Warhol piano valued over $3 million and how a Walnut Creek-based pair proved its authenticity. |url=https://patch.com/california/walnutcreek/lennon-ono-warhol-linked-lost-baldwin-bay-area-experts |access-date=4 September 2023 |publisher=Patch |date=2 September 2023}}</ref>  by [[Mercersburg Academy]] to research and authenticate the provenance of the [[John Lennon|Lennon]]-[[Yoko Ono|Ono]]-[[Samuel Adams Green|Green]]-[[Andy Warhol|Warhol]] piano before it was put up for sale to fund a Deed of Trust by the Shaool Family to Mercersburg Academy for future student scholarships.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Burris |first1=Taj |title=Owned by John Lennon, lost after Andy Warhol, a piano finds itself on auction in Towson |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/culture/music/john-lennon-yoko-ono-andy-warhol-piano-auction-towson-2HPBALNKXJFDNPB6R23YCHU47E/ |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=Newspaper |agency=The Baltimore Banner |publisher=The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism |date=27 August 2023}}</ref>  Because this piano was part of a famous lawsuit in 2000 and had extensive coverage as the "Lost Lennon Piano",<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gregorian |first1=Dareh |title=LENNON'S PAL WANTS $1.6M FOR 'LOST' PIANO |url=https://nypost.com/2000/05/28/lennons-pal-wants-1-6m-for-lost-piano/ |access-date=5 September 2023 |publisher=New York Post |date=28 May 2000}}</ref> when provenance research done by Lile was revealed by the Alex Cooper Auctioneers to the public, the provenance became the subject of dozens of newspapers and magazines that picked up the story.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cassady |first1=Daniel |title=A Grand Piano Once Owned by John Lennon Is Coming Up for Sale |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/baldwin-grand-piano-john-lennon-andy-warhol-auction-1234675798/ |access-date=5 September 2023 |agency=ARTnews |publisher=artnews.com |date=28 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Pianos belonging to Freddie Mercury and John Lennon set to be auctioned off... but for how much? |url=https://www.pianistmagazine.com/news/pianos-belonging-to-freddie-mercury-and-john-lennon-set-to-be-auctione/ |access-date=5 September 2023 |date=14 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grosskrueger |first1=Amanda |title=Lennon-Ono-Green-Warhol Piano Lost and Found, Now Up for Auction In Which County? |url=https://conduitstreet.mdcounties.org/2023/08/10/fun-facts-lennon-ono-green-warhol-piano-lost-and-found-now-up-for-auction-in-which-county/ |access-date=5 September 2023 |work=Online Newspaper |agency=Conduit Street |publisher=Maryland Association of Counties |date=10 August 2023}}</ref>

In the case of sculpture or art that are incorporated into the piano's cabinet, experts might be come from the field of [[art valuation]] and belong to an appraiser society such as the [[American Society of Appraisers]] or the International Society of Appraisers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Official Website |url=https://www.isa-appraisers.org/ |website=International Society of Appraisers |access-date=4 September 2023}}</ref>