Objects: Provenance

Table of Contents

Introduction

Tracking the provenance of an object is described in detail in the Provenance section of the model. This level of detail is often not available for all objects, and it is beneficial to have the current ownership, custody and location of objects available in the object record directly.

Even if there are detailed records of the ownership history for an object, these are still likely limited to the basics of who owned it, when, and how they acquired it. The acquisition is also likely for the object by itself, and what was paid or exchanged for it is very infrequently able to be published. For this 99% case, the transfers of ownership can be listed in the object record instead of in separate provenance records, but can be linked to them if they do exist. This pattern does not extend to changes of custody or location.

Current and Normal Owners, Custodians and Locations

Ownership

The current owner of the object should be referenced with transferred_title_to in the most recent Acquisition that transferred_title_of the object. These transfers are described in detail in the Acquistion section of the provenance model, and in the reduced version described below within the object record.

To make the current owner easier to find in the data, the owner should also be referenced with current_owner from the object itself. There are further modeling details available about People and Organizations that might own objects.

Example:

The current owner of Spring is the Getty.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring/6",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Jeanne (Spring) by Manet",
  "current_owner": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500115988",
      "type": "Group",
      "_label": "Getty Museum"
    }
  ]
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/spring/6) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Jeanne (Spring) by Manet''") class O1_4 literal; O2(ulan:500115988) class O2 actor; O2-- type -->O2_0[Group] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Getty Museum''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- current_owner -->O2
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)

Custody

Similarly, the current custodian of the object should be referenced with the transferred_custody_to in the most recent TransferOfCustody, in the same way as the current owner is referenced from the most recent Acquisition. The equivalent property to current_owner for custody is current_custodian. Transfers of custody are described in more detail in the section on custody.

If there is a department or person that is not the owner but is responsible for the object, then that actor is the current_custodian. Similarly, loans between organizations (either temporary or permanent) transfer custody rather than ownership.

Example:

The Night Watch is owned by the City of Amsterdam, and on permanent loan to the Rijksmuseum.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/nightwatch/14",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Painting",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Painting",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "Type of Work"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Artwork"
    }
  ],
  "current_owner": [
    {
      "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/amsterdam_govt",
      "type": "Group",
      "_label": "City of Amsterdam Governing Body"
    }
  ],
  "current_custodian": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500246547",
      "type": "Group",
      "_label": "Rijksmuseum"
    }
  ]
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/nightwatch/14) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Painting''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300033618) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Painting''") class O2_3 literal; O3(aat:300435443) class O3 type; O3-- type -->O3_0[Type] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_3("''Type of Work''") class O3_3 literal; O2-- classified_as -->O3 O1-- classified_as -->O2 O4(aat:300133025) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Artwork''") class O4_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O4 O5(group/amsterdam_govt) class O5 actor; O5-- type -->O5_0[Group] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''City of Amsterdam Governing Body''") class O5_3 literal; O1-- current_owner -->O5 O6(ulan:500246547) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Rijksmuseum''") class O6_3 literal; O1-- current_custodian -->O6
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)

Normal Custodian

When an object is temporarily loaned to another organization, for example for an exhibition, then the current owner does not change, but the current custodian will. It is useful in this circumstance to know who the usual or normal custodian of the object is when it's different from the current custodian. For example, if (and this is a very big "if" given the real world size of the painting) the Night Watch was ever loaned to another organization, then the owner would remain the city, the current custodian would be the exhibiting organization, and the Rijksmuseum would remain the normal custodian. This uses a property called current_permanent_custodian.

Example:

The Night Watch is also (entirely hypothetically) loaned to the Getty Museum.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/nightwatch/17",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Painting",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300033618",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Painting",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435443",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "Type of Work"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300133025",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Artwork"
    }
  ],
  "current_owner": [
    {
      "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/amsterdam_govt",
      "type": "Group",
      "_label": "City of Amsterdam Governing Body"
    }
  ],
  "current_permanent_custodian": {
    "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500246547",
    "type": "Group",
    "_label": "Rijksmuseum"
  },
  "current_custodian": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/ulan/500115988",
      "type": "Group",
      "_label": "Getty Museum"
    }
  ]
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/nightwatch/17) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Painting''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300033618) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Painting''") class O2_3 literal; O3(aat:300435443) class O3 type; O3-- type -->O3_0[Type] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_3("''Type of Work''") class O3_3 literal; O2-- classified_as -->O3 O1-- classified_as -->O2 O4(aat:300133025) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Artwork''") class O4_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O4 O5(group/amsterdam_govt) class O5 actor; O5-- type -->O5_0[Group] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''City of Amsterdam Governing Body''") class O5_3 literal; O1-- current_owner -->O5 O6(ulan:500246547) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Rijksmuseum''") class O6_3 literal; O1-- current_permanent_custodian -->O6 O7(ulan:500115988) class O7 actor; O7-- type -->O7_0[Group] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_3("''Getty Museum''") class O7_3 literal; O1-- current_custodian -->O7
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)

Location

The current location of the object is given using the current_location property. This can give eference a gallery or specific part of a facility, or be used for the general location of the organization where the object is currently held. There are further modeling details available about Places.

Example:

The current location of the Spring is Gallery W204 (which is part of the West building, which is part of the Getty Center)

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring/7",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Jeanne (Spring) by Manet",
  "current_location": {
    "id": "https://linked.art/example/place/W204",
    "type": "Place",
    "_label": "Gallery W204"
  }
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/spring/7) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Jeanne (Spring) by Manet''") class O1_4 literal; O2(place/W204) class O2 place; O2-- type -->O2_0[Place] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Gallery W204''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- current_location -->O2
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)

Normal Location

Similar to the current versus normal custodian, objects may also have a normal location compared to their current location. The object might not be where it normally is due to being removed for conservation work, because it has been moved for an exhibition, or due to gallery rotations. The model uses the same pattern as the normal custodian with a current_permanent_location property.

Example:

Spring is (also hypothetically) currently in a different gallery for an exhibition.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring/14",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Jeanne (Spring) by Manet",
  "current_permanent_location": {
    "id": "https://linked.art/example/place/W204",
    "type": "Place",
    "_label": "Gallery W204"
  },
  "current_location": {
    "id": "https://linked.art/example/place/E100",
    "type": "Place",
    "_label": "Exhibition Gallery 100"
  }
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/spring/14) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Jeanne (Spring) by Manet''") class O1_4 literal; O2(place/W204) class O2 place; O2-- type -->O2_0[Place] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Gallery W204''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- current_permanent_location -->O2 O3(place/E100) class O3 place; O3-- type -->O3_0[Place] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_3("''Exhibition Gallery 100''") class O3_3 literal; O1-- current_location -->O3
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)

Simple Historical Ownership

The list of owners can be provided directly within the object record using the changed_ownership_through property. This conveys a list of Acquisitions (not full Provenance events) in which the ownership of the object changed. The Acquisitions should be in the order in the resulting serialization of the model in which they should be displayed, for example in the correct order in the JSON-LD array if following the Linked Art API. If there are full Provenance Activity records, then these can be referenced via the part_of property in the Acquisition.

Otherwise, all of the regular event properties and relationships are available for use.

Example:

Spring was transferred from Manet to Proust, and then later from the Durand-Ruel Gallery to Payne. (The full set of transfers would be given in the real record)

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring/15",
  "type": "HumanMadeObject",
  "_label": "Jeanne (Spring) by Manet",
  "changed_ownership_through": [
    {
      "type": "Acquisition",
      "_label": "Ownership of Spring to Proust",
      "timespan": {
        "type": "TimeSpan",
        "begin_of_the_begin": "1881-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "end_of_the_end": "1883-12-31T23:59:59Z"
      },
      "transferred_title_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/manet",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Manet"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_title_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/proust",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Proust"
        }
      ],
      "part_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/event/manet_proust",
          "type": "Activity",
          "_label": "Full Provenance Activity"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Acquisition",
      "_label": "Ownership of Spring to Payne",
      "timespan": {
        "type": "TimeSpan",
        "begin_of_the_begin": "1909-01-01T00:00:00Z",
        "end_of_the_end": "1909-12-31T23:59:59Z"
      },
      "transferred_title_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/durand",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Durand-Ruel Gallery"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_title_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/payne",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Oliver Payne"
        }
      ],
      "part_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/event/durand_payne",
          "type": "Activity",
          "_label": "Full Provenance Activity"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

graph TD classDef object stroke:black,fill:#E1BA9C,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef actor stroke:black,fill:#FFBDCA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef type stroke:red,fill:#FAB565,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef name stroke:orange,fill:#FEF3BA,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef dims stroke:black,fill:#c6c6c6,rx:20px,ry:20px; classDef infoobj stroke:#907010,fill:#fffa40,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef timespan stroke:blue,fill:#ddfffe,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef place stroke:#3a7a3a,fill:#aff090,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef event stroke:#1010FF,fill:#96e0f6,rx:20px,ry:20px classDef literal stroke:black,fill:#f0f0e0; classDef classstyle stroke:black,fill:white; O1(object/spring/15) class O1 object; O1-- type -->O1_0[HumanMadeObject] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Jeanne (Spring) by Manet''") class O1_4 literal; O2( _ ) class O2 event; O2-- type -->O2_0[Acquisition] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_2("''Ownership of Spring to Proust''") class O2_2 literal; O3( _ ) class O3 timespan; O3-- type -->O3_0[TimeSpan] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- begin_of_the_begin -->O3_2("''1881-01-01T00:00:00Z''") class O3_2 literal; O3-- end_of_the_end -->O3_3("''1883-12-31T23:59:59Z''") class O3_3 literal; O2-- timespan -->O3 O4(event/manet_proust) class O4 event; O4-- type -->O4_0[Activity] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Full Provenance Activity''") class O4_3 literal; O2-- part_of -->O4 O5(person/manet) class O5 actor; O5-- type -->O5_0[Person] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Manet''") class O5_3 literal; O2-- transferred_title_from -->O5 O6(person/proust) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Person] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Proust''") class O6_3 literal; O2-- transferred_title_to -->O6 O1-- changed_ownership_through -->O2 O7( _ ) class O7 event; O7-- type -->O7_0[Acquisition] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_2("''Ownership of Spring to Payne''") class O7_2 literal; O8( _ ) class O8 timespan; O8-- type -->O8_0[TimeSpan] class O8_0 classstyle; O8-- begin_of_the_begin -->O8_2("''1909-01-01T00:00:00Z''") class O8_2 literal; O8-- end_of_the_end -->O8_3("''1909-12-31T23:59:59Z''") class O8_3 literal; O7-- timespan -->O8 O9(event/durand_payne) class O9 event; O9-- type -->O9_0[Activity] class O9_0 classstyle; O9-- _label -->O9_3("''Full Provenance Activity''") class O9_3 literal; O7-- part_of -->O9 O10(person/durand) class O10 actor; O10-- type -->O10_0[Person] class O10_0 classstyle; O10-- _label -->O10_3("''Durand-Ruel Gallery''") class O10_3 literal; O7-- transferred_title_from -->O10 O11(person/payne) class O11 actor; O11-- type -->O11_0[Person] class O11_0 classstyle; O11-- _label -->O11_3("''Oliver Payne''") class O11_3 literal; O7-- transferred_title_to -->O11 O1-- changed_ownership_through -->O7
Other Representations: JSON-LD (raw) | JSON-LD (playground) | Turtle (raw) | Turtle (styled)