Provenance
Encyclopedia
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing. Typical uses may cover any artifact
found in archaeology, any object in paleontology
, certain documents (such as manuscript
s), or copies of printed books. In most fields, the primary purpose of provenance is to confirm or gather evidence as to the time, place, and—when appropriate—the person responsible for the creation, production, or discovery of the object. This will typically be accomplished by tracing the whole history of the object up to the present. Comparative techniques, expert opinions, and the results of scientific tests may also be used to these ends, but establishing provenance is essentially a matter of documentation.
In archaeology (particularly North American archaeology and anthropological archaeology throughout the world), the term provenience is used somewhat similarly to "provenance". Archaeological researchers use provenience to refer to the three-dimensional location of an artifact or feature within an archaeological site, as opposed to provenance, which includes an artifact's complete documented history.
Provenance issues regarding works of art and cultural artifacts is a largely taboo subject within the museum discipline.
, antiques and antiquities
is of great importance because of the cultural value of such objects. Documented evidence of provenance for an object can help to establish that it has not been altered and is not a forgery, a reproduction, stolen
or looted art
. Provenance helps assign the work to a known artist, and a documented history can be of use in helping to prove ownership. An example is the case of the Arnolfini portrait.
The quality of provenance of an important work of art can make a considerable difference to its selling price in the market; this is affected by the degree of certainty of the provenance, the status of past owners as collectors, and in many cases by the strength of evidence that an object has not been illegally excavated or exported from another country. The provenance of a work of art may be recorded in variously depending on context or the amount that is known, from a single name to an entry in a scholarly catalogue thousand words long.
An expert certification
can mean the difference between an object having no value and being worth a fortune.
Certifications themselves may be open to question. Jacques van Meegeren
forged the work of his father Han van Meegeren
(who in his turn had forged the work of Vermeer). Jacques sometimes produced a certificate with his forgeries stating that a work was created by his father. See Jacques van Meegeren
.
, the issue of provenance has a large bearing on the assessment of the contents of a bottle, both in terms of quality and the risk of wine fraud
. A documented history of wine cellar
conditions is valuable in estimating the quality of an older vintage due to the fragile nature of wine.
In archival practice, proof of provenance is provided by the operation of control systems that document the history of records kept in archives, including details of amendments made to them. It was developed in the nineteenth century by both French and Prussian archivists.
Provenance is the title of the journal published by the Society of Georgia Archivists.
Provenance studies may shed light on the books themselves, providing evidence of the role particular titles have played in social, intellectual and literary history. Such studies may also add to our knowledge of particular owners of books. For instance, looking at the books owned by a writer may help to show which works influenced him or her.
Many provenance studies are historically focused, and concentrated on books owned by writers, politicians and public figures. The recent ownership of books is studied, however, as is evidence of how ordinary or anonymous readers have interacted with books.
Provenance can be studied both by examining the books themselves (for instance looking at inscriptions, marginalia
, bookplate
s, book rhyme
s, and bindings) and by reference to external sources of information such as auction catalogues.
archaeological finds are treated with caution. The provenance of a find may not be properly represented by the context in which it was found. Artifact
s can be moved far from their place of origin by mechanisms that include looting, collecting, theft or trade and further research is often required to establish the true provenance of a find. Fossil
s can also move from their primary context and are sometimes found, apparently in-situ, in deposits to which they do not belong, moved by, for example, the erosion of nearby but different outcrop
s. Most museums make strenuous efforts to record how the works in their collections were acquired and these records are often of use in helping to establish provenance.
In the geologic use of the term, provenance instead refers to the lithologic origin of a rock, most commonly in sedimentary rocks. It does not typically refer to the circumstances of the collection of the rock.
Seed provenance refers to the specified area in which plants that produced seed are located or were derived. Local provenancing is a position maintained by ecologists that suggests that seeds should be planted of local provenance only. However, this view suffers from the adaptationist program - a view that populations are universally locally adapted. It is maintained that local seed is best adapted to local conditions (local adaptation
) and outbreeding depression
will be avoided. Evolutionary biologists suggest that strict adherence to provenance collecting is not a wise decision because:
1. Local adaptation
is not as common as assumed
2. Background population maladaptation
can be driven by natural processes
3. Human actions of habitat fragmentation
drive maladaptation
up and adaptive potential down
4. natural selection
is changing rapidly due to climate change
and habitat fragmentation
5. population fragments are unlikely to divergence by natural selection
since fragmentation (<500 years). This leads to a low risk of outbreeding depression
. Scientific workflows
assist scientists and programmers with tracking their data through all transformations, analyses, and interpretations. Data sets are reliable when the process used to create them are reproducible
and analyzable for defects. Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of data provenance. Examples of these initiatives are National Science Foundation
Datanet
projects, DataONE
and Data Conservancy.
is an equivalent term used in law, especially for evidence in criminal or commercial cases. Data provenance covers the provenance of computerized data. There are two main aspects of data provenance: ownership of the data and data usage. Ownership will tells the user who is responsible for the source of the data, ideally including information on the originator of the data. Data usage gives details regarding how the data as been used and modified and often includes information on how to cite the data source or sources. Data provenance is of particular concern with electronic data, as data sets are often modified and copied without proper citation or acknowledgement of the originating data set. Databases make it easy to select specific information from data sets and merge this data with other data sources without any documentation of how the data was obtained or how it was modified from the original data set or sets.
Secure Provenance refers to providing integrity and confidentiality guarantees to provenance information. In other words, secure provenance means to ensure that history cannot be rewritten, and users can specify who else can look into their actions on the object.
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
found in archaeology, any object in paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
, certain documents (such as manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s), or copies of printed books. In most fields, the primary purpose of provenance is to confirm or gather evidence as to the time, place, and—when appropriate—the person responsible for the creation, production, or discovery of the object. This will typically be accomplished by tracing the whole history of the object up to the present. Comparative techniques, expert opinions, and the results of scientific tests may also be used to these ends, but establishing provenance is essentially a matter of documentation.
In archaeology (particularly North American archaeology and anthropological archaeology throughout the world), the term provenience is used somewhat similarly to "provenance". Archaeological researchers use provenience to refer to the three-dimensional location of an artifact or feature within an archaeological site, as opposed to provenance, which includes an artifact's complete documented history.
Provenance issues regarding works of art and cultural artifacts is a largely taboo subject within the museum discipline.
Works of art and antiques
The provenance of works of fine artFine art
Fine art or the fine arts encompass art forms developed primarily for aesthetics and/or concept rather than practical application. Art is often a synonym for fine art, as employed in the term "art gallery"....
, antiques and antiquities
Antiquities
Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures...
is of great importance because of the cultural value of such objects. Documented evidence of provenance for an object can help to establish that it has not been altered and is not a forgery, a reproduction, stolen
Art theft
Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom . Stolen art is sometimes used by criminals to secure loans.. One must realize that only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered. Estimates range from 5 to 10%. This means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of...
or looted art
Looted art
Looted art has been a consequence of looting during war, natural disaster and riot for centuries. Looting of art, archaeology and other cultural property may be an opportunistic criminal act, or may be a more organized case of unlawful or unethical pillage by the victor of a conflict."Looted art"...
. Provenance helps assign the work to a known artist, and a documented history can be of use in helping to prove ownership. An example is the case of the Arnolfini portrait.
The quality of provenance of an important work of art can make a considerable difference to its selling price in the market; this is affected by the degree of certainty of the provenance, the status of past owners as collectors, and in many cases by the strength of evidence that an object has not been illegally excavated or exported from another country. The provenance of a work of art may be recorded in variously depending on context or the amount that is known, from a single name to an entry in a scholarly catalogue thousand words long.
An expert certification
Certification
Certification refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organization. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit...
can mean the difference between an object having no value and being worth a fortune.
Certifications themselves may be open to question. Jacques van Meegeren
Jacques van Meegeren
Jacques van Meegeren , born Jacques Henri Emil van Meegeren, was a Dutch Illustrator and painter.He is also considered to be a forger of the work of his father Han van Meegeren...
forged the work of his father Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren
Han van Meegeren , born Henricus Antonius van Meegeren, was a Dutch painter and portraitist, and is considered to be one of the most ingenious art forgers of the 20th century....
(who in his turn had forged the work of Vermeer). Jacques sometimes produced a certificate with his forgeries stating that a work was created by his father. See Jacques van Meegeren
Jacques van Meegeren
Jacques van Meegeren , born Jacques Henri Emil van Meegeren, was a Dutch Illustrator and painter.He is also considered to be a forger of the work of his father Han van Meegeren...
.
Wines
In transactions of old wine with the potential of improving with ageStorage of wine
Storage is an important consideration for any wine that is being kept for long-term aging. While most wine produced today is meant for near-term consumption , there are certain situations in which it may be set aside for long-term storage...
, the issue of provenance has a large bearing on the assessment of the contents of a bottle, both in terms of quality and the risk of wine fraud
Wine fraud
Wine fraud is a form of fraud in which wines are sold to a customer illicitly, usually having the customer spend more money than the product is worth, or causing sickness due to harmful chemicals being mixed into the wine...
. A documented history of wine cellar
Wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...
conditions is valuable in estimating the quality of an older vintage due to the fragile nature of wine.
Archives
Provenance is a fundamental principle of archives, referring to the individual, group, or organization that created or received the items in a collection. According to archival theory and the principle of provenance, records of different provenance should be separated.In archival practice, proof of provenance is provided by the operation of control systems that document the history of records kept in archives, including details of amendments made to them. It was developed in the nineteenth century by both French and Prussian archivists.
Provenance is the title of the journal published by the Society of Georgia Archivists.
Books
In the case of books, the study of provenance refers to the study of the ownership of individual copies of books. It is usually extended to include study of the circumstances in which individual copies of books have changed ownership, and of evidence left in books that shows how readers interacted with them.Provenance studies may shed light on the books themselves, providing evidence of the role particular titles have played in social, intellectual and literary history. Such studies may also add to our knowledge of particular owners of books. For instance, looking at the books owned by a writer may help to show which works influenced him or her.
Many provenance studies are historically focused, and concentrated on books owned by writers, politicians and public figures. The recent ownership of books is studied, however, as is evidence of how ordinary or anonymous readers have interacted with books.
Provenance can be studied both by examining the books themselves (for instance looking at inscriptions, marginalia
Marginalia
Marginalia are scribbles, comments, and illuminations in the margins of a book.- Biblical manuscripts :Biblical manuscripts have liturgical notes at the margin, for liturgical use. Numbers of texts' divisions are given at the margin...
, bookplate
Bookplate
A bookplate, also known as ex-librīs [Latin, "from the books of..."], is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner...
s, book rhyme
Book rhyme
A book rhyme is a short poem or rhyme that was formerly printed inside the front of a book or on the flyleaf to discourage theft or to indicate ownership....
s, and bindings) and by reference to external sources of information such as auction catalogues.
Science
Evidence of provenance can be of importance in archaeology and palaeontology. Fakes are not unknown and finds are sometimes removed from the context in which they were found without documentation, reducing their value to the world of learning. Even when apparently discovered in-situIn situ
In situ is a Latin phrase which translated literally as 'In position'. It is used in many different contexts.-Aerospace:In the aerospace industry, equipment on board aircraft must be tested in situ, or in place, to confirm everything functions properly as a system. Individually, each piece may...
archaeological finds are treated with caution. The provenance of a find may not be properly represented by the context in which it was found. Artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s can be moved far from their place of origin by mechanisms that include looting, collecting, theft or trade and further research is often required to establish the true provenance of a find. Fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s can also move from their primary context and are sometimes found, apparently in-situ, in deposits to which they do not belong, moved by, for example, the erosion of nearby but different outcrop
Outcrop
An outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth. -Features:Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most places the bedrock or superficial deposits are covered by a mantle of soil and vegetation and cannot be...
s. Most museums make strenuous efforts to record how the works in their collections were acquired and these records are often of use in helping to establish provenance.
In the geologic use of the term, provenance instead refers to the lithologic origin of a rock, most commonly in sedimentary rocks. It does not typically refer to the circumstances of the collection of the rock.
Seed provenance refers to the specified area in which plants that produced seed are located or were derived. Local provenancing is a position maintained by ecologists that suggests that seeds should be planted of local provenance only. However, this view suffers from the adaptationist program - a view that populations are universally locally adapted. It is maintained that local seed is best adapted to local conditions (local adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
) and outbreeding depression
Outbreeding depression
A concept in selective breeding and zoology, outbreeding depression refers to cases when offspring from crosses between individuals from different populations have lower fitness than progeny from crosses between individuals from the same population....
will be avoided. Evolutionary biologists suggest that strict adherence to provenance collecting is not a wise decision because:
1. Local adaptation
Adaptation
An adaptation in biology is a trait with a current functional role in the life history of an organism that is maintained and evolved by means of natural selection. An adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation....
is not as common as assumed
2. Background population maladaptation
Maladaptation
A maladaptation is a trait that is more harmful than helpful. It is a term used when discussing both humans and animals in fields such as evolutionary biology, biology, psychology , sociology, and other fields where adaptation and responsive change may occur...
can be driven by natural processes
3. Human actions of habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...
drive maladaptation
Maladaptation
A maladaptation is a trait that is more harmful than helpful. It is a term used when discussing both humans and animals in fields such as evolutionary biology, biology, psychology , sociology, and other fields where adaptation and responsive change may occur...
up and adaptive potential down
4. natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
is changing rapidly due to climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation as the name implies, describes the emergence of discontinuities in an organism's preferred environment , causing population fragmentation...
5. population fragments are unlikely to divergence by natural selection
Natural selection
Natural selection is the nonrandom process by which biologic traits become either more or less common in a population as a function of differential reproduction of their bearers. It is a key mechanism of evolution....
since fragmentation (<500 years). This leads to a low risk of outbreeding depression
Outbreeding depression
A concept in selective breeding and zoology, outbreeding depression refers to cases when offspring from crosses between individuals from different populations have lower fitness than progeny from crosses between individuals from the same population....
Data Provenance
Scientific research is generally held to be of good provenance when it is documented in detail sufficient to allow reproducibilityReproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
. Scientific workflows
Scientific workflow system
A Scientific Workflow Systems is a specialized form of a workflow management system designed specifically to compose and execute a series of computational or data manipulation steps, or a workflow, in a scientific application...
assist scientists and programmers with tracking their data through all transformations, analyses, and interpretations. Data sets are reliable when the process used to create them are reproducible
Reproducibility
Reproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
and analyzable for defects. Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of data provenance. Examples of these initiatives are National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
Datanet
Datanet
This article is about the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Cyberinfrastructure . For the ISP, Datanet please visit Datanet .On September 28, 2007, the U.S. National Science Foundation Office of Cyberinfrastructure announced a request for proposals with the name Sustainable Digital Data...
projects, DataONE
DataONE
Data Observation Network for Earth is a project supported by the National Science Foundation under the DataNet program. DataONE will provide scientific data archiving for ecological and environmental data produced by scientists worldwide. DataONE's stated goal is to preserve and provide access to...
and Data Conservancy.
Computers and law
The term provenance is used when ascertaining the source of goods such as computer hardware to assess if they are genuine or counterfeit. Chain of custodyChain of custody
Chain of custody refers to the chronological documentation or paper trail, showing the seizure, custody, control, transfer, analysis, and disposition of evidence, physical or electronic...
is an equivalent term used in law, especially for evidence in criminal or commercial cases. Data provenance covers the provenance of computerized data. There are two main aspects of data provenance: ownership of the data and data usage. Ownership will tells the user who is responsible for the source of the data, ideally including information on the originator of the data. Data usage gives details regarding how the data as been used and modified and often includes information on how to cite the data source or sources. Data provenance is of particular concern with electronic data, as data sets are often modified and copied without proper citation or acknowledgement of the originating data set. Databases make it easy to select specific information from data sets and merge this data with other data sources without any documentation of how the data was obtained or how it was modified from the original data set or sets.
Secure Provenance refers to providing integrity and confidentiality guarantees to provenance information. In other words, secure provenance means to ensure that history cannot be rewritten, and users can specify who else can look into their actions on the object.
See also
- Dating methodology (archaeology)Dating methodology (archaeology)Dating material drawn from the archaeological record can be made by a direct study of an artifact or may be deduced by association with materials found in the context the item is drawn from or inferred by its point of discovery in the sequence relative to datable contexts...
- Post excavationPost excavationIn archaeology once the archaeological record of given site has been excavated, or collected from surface surveys, it is necessary to gain as much data as possible and organize it into a coherent body of information. This process is known as post-excavation analysis, and is normally the most...
- Arnolfini Portrait - fairly full example of the provenance of a painting
- Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)Annunciation (van Eyck, Washington)The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, from around 1434-1436. It is in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C. It was originally on panel but has been transferred to canvas. It is thought that it was the left wing of a triptych; there has...
- another example - Records ManagementRecords ManagementRecords management, or RM, is the practice of maintaining the records of an organization from the time they are created up to their eventual disposal...
- TraceabilityTraceabilityTraceability refers to the completeness of the information about every step in a process chain.The formal definition: Traceability is the ability to chronologically interrelate uniquely identifiable entities in a way that is verifiable....
External links
- http://www.nga.gov/collection/index.shtmThe National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
Washington gives brief provenances for most featured works] - EU Provenance Project - a technology project that sought to support the electronic certification of data provenance
- the difference between provenience and provenance
- DataONE
- Data Conservancy