Guide · Evidence
Separate an attribution from its supporting evidence. This guide helps you work out what is stated, what is recorded and what is still unknown about an object, and how to ask for records without assuming they exist.
Provenance describes the recorded history of an object's ownership. Attribution is a statement that an object is by a particular maker, workshop or period. Either may rest on strong documents, on a mark or label, on resemblance to other work, or on little more than a family account.
Not every antique or collectable comes with documented provenance, and the absence of records does not make an object unworthy of interest. What matters is that you can see which parts of a description are evidenced and which are simply stated.
When you are shown a record, note what kind of document it is, when it is dated, exactly how it is worded and how it relates to this particular object. An old receipt for “a small carved box” may be genuine and still not identify which box it meant.
A gap in the record is not proof of wrongdoing, since papers are often lost, and a document is not proof of authenticity either. Read each one for what it actually says, and keep a note of what it leaves open.
You can ask whether any supporting records exist for an object, and if so to see copies or photographs of them. Useful requests include earlier receipts or invoices, labels, inscriptions, correspondence and any notes about how the maker or date was reached.
Where a date or maker is described as uncertain, ask what the uncertainty is. “Circa”, “attributed to” and “in the manner of” each mean something different. Asking is reasonable, but a request is not a promise that records exist for any item sold by Vault & Vale.
Select stated, recorded or unknown to see a hypothetical statement and a bounded follow-up question. These are teaching examples only and are not a rating of any object.
A hypothetical description says an object is “attributed to” a named maker. That is a claim. It does not tell you what the attribution rests on, so the useful next step is to ask for the basis.
You describe this as attributed to a named maker. What is that attribution based on, and is any supporting record available to see?
Suppose an old invoice exists. It is evidence, but only of what it says. Check the date, the wording and whether the description clearly matches this object rather than a similar one.
Could you share a photograph of the invoice and say how it is linked to this particular object?
Some points simply cannot be answered, such as a date given only as a range. An honest “not known” is useful information. Ask what the range is based on rather than hoping for a precise date.
The date is given as a range. Is that based on a mark, a document or general style, and is anything further known?
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Vault & Vale / Correspondence
Tell us which item you are looking at and what you would like to understand about its maker, date or ownership. The contact page prepares a message in your own email app, and you can edit it before sending.
Ask about provenance ↗ [email protected]