How to Read Provenance Information

Provenance charts the changes in ownership of a work of art. It depends on documents such as wills, archives, receipts, auction sales and dealers' records. Otherwise, the ownership can be discovered by research such as tracking down publication in exhibition or auction catalogues, memoirs of the artist, or the recollections of art-lovers. It is extremely rare to find an unbroken chain of possession since, for example, confidentiality may be a condition of sale.

Unbroken links between owners are indicated by the terms:

• by descent = family inheritance
• by inheritance = bequest of the previous owner
• when = sold on that date to the new owner
• from whom = passing directly to the next owner

Other terms include:

• acquired = either bought by or given to the new owner in unknown circumstances
• with = in the hands of an art dealer, either deposited for sale on behalf of the owner, or bought by the firm for resale
• through = a firm was the agent for the sale, but was not necessarily the owner of the work