Start with the object
Before assembling names, establish which object is being discussed. Record title variants, dimensions, support, inscriptions and identifying images. Two records with the same artist and title need not describe the same work.
Separate an event from its account
An invoice, an inventory and a later family recollection are different kinds of evidence. Ask when each was made, who produced it and what it actually records. A catalogue may repeat an earlier account without supplying new corroboration.
Build a sequence, not a seamless story
Keep intervals of unknown ownership visible. Record an approximate date as approximate, and distinguish the date of an event from the date of the document that describes it. A gap is a research question; it is not by itself a conclusion about authenticity.
Follow names into archives
Getty’s Provenance Index brings together data derived from dealer books, sales catalogues and other records. The Archives of American Art guide points to documentary resources for collecting histories. Search results lead to records that still need interpretation.
Write the conclusion at the scale of the evidence
A name in a source is only useful once it is tied to the right object and event. Preserve transcriptions, citations and competing interpretations so another researcher can follow the reasoning. New evidence may change the sequence.
References & reading
- Getty Provenance Index Institutional research resource
- Archives of American Art — provenance research guide Institutional research guide
- Getty CDWA — Ownership / Collecting History Cataloguing guidance
Source pages reviewed 22 September 2026. The discussion is an editorial synthesis; it is not a finding about the authenticity of a particular work.