Provenance
‘Provenance’ is the recorded history of an object’s ownership. Everyone working with cultural heritage, whether in the public or commercial sectors, has a legal and ethical duty to understand the provenance of the cultural property they hold. They should have a working knowledge of the types of objects which may have been acquired illicitly, and also of resources such as databases of stolen cultural property that can help with due diligence research.
- Commercial databases of stolen cultural property
- Non-commercial databases of stolen cultural property
- Spectrum procedures relevant to provenance
Cultural heritage organisations have a duty to acquire objects honestly and responsibly, and meet all current ethical and legal standards. In the UK Accredited museums and galleries must have procedures in place to ensure that key collections information, including provenance where possible, is recorded and maintained to Spectrum standards. This includes having a plan to research and document any parts of their collections that lack such information. In the UK there is a current emphasis on the provenance of objects which may have been looted (‘spoliated’) by the Nazis in the period 1933 – 1945.