Changes of Custody

Introduction

When there is a change of who has physical possession of an object, but not who the legal owner of it is, that constitutes a change of custody rather than a change of ownership. This pattern includes use cases such as lending an object to another party for some amount of time, the theft of an object (as the legal owner does not change), and losing track of the location of an object.

Loans

The model makes a distinction between the transfer of legal ownership and the transfer of custody of an object (e.g. by losing the object or loaning it out for an exhibition). If the possession of the object is temporary, such that the object would be given back to the real owner at the end of that possession without what might be considered a sale or exchange, then it is a transfer of custody. Note that the provenance activity here does not represent the entire duration of the change in custody, only the transfer of it. Just like acquisitions, there would be a second provenance activity that would transfer the custody back to the original custodian or on to some other party.

Long term loans or even "permanent" loans are just open ended pairs of activities -- the object has had its custody transferred, and the object has not been returned yet.

In the model, these transfers of custody use a different class, TransferOfCustody instead of Acquisition. The properties that capture the parties and object involved are also different, although equivalent, to those of Acquisition: transferred_custody_of the object, transferred_custody_from the previous custodian, and transferred_custody_to the new custodian.

Example:

Spring is lent by the Getty to the Art Institute of Chicago.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/provenance/spring_aic/1",
  "type": "Activity",
  "_label": "Loan of Spring to AIC",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Provenance Activity"
    }
  ],
  "part": [
    {
      "type": "TransferOfCustody",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300417645",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "Loan"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Spring"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/getty",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Getty Museum"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/aic",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Art Institute of Chicago"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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(provenance/spring_aic/1) class O1 event; O1-- type -->O1_0[Activity] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Loan of Spring to AIC''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300055863) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Provenance Activity''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O2 O3( _ ) class O3 event; O3-- type -->O3_0[TransferOfCustody] class O3_0 classstyle; O4(aat:300417645) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Loan''") class O4_3 literal; O3-- classified_as -->O4 O5(object/spring) class O5 object; O5-- type -->O5_0[HumanMadeObject] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Spring''") class O5_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_of -->O5 O6(group/getty) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Getty Museum''") class O6_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_from -->O6 O7(group/aic) class O7 actor; O7-- type -->O7_0[Group] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_3("''Art Institute of Chicago''") class O7_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_to -->O7 O1-- part -->O3

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Which would typically be followed by a later return with the same form:

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/provenance/spring_getty/1",
  "type": "Activity",
  "_label": "Return of Spring to Getty",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Provenance Activity"
    }
  ],
  "part": [
    {
      "type": "TransferOfCustody",
      "_label": "Return",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300438467",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "Return of Loan"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Spring"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/aic",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Art Institute of Chicago"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/getty",
          "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(provenance/spring_getty/1) class O1 event; O1-- type -->O1_0[Activity] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Return of Spring to Getty''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300055863) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Provenance Activity''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O2 O3( _ ) class O3 event; O3-- type -->O3_0[TransferOfCustody] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_2("''Return''") class O3_2 literal; O4(aat:300438467) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Return of Loan''") class O4_3 literal; O3-- classified_as -->O4 O5(object/spring) class O5 object; O5-- type -->O5_0[HumanMadeObject] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Spring''") class O5_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_of -->O5 O6(group/aic) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Art Institute of Chicago''") class O6_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_from -->O6 O7(group/getty) class O7 actor; O7-- type -->O7_0[Group] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_3("''Getty Museum''") class O7_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_to -->O7 O1-- part -->O3

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Institutional Ownership, Departmental Custody

Objects are owned by legal entities, such as museum organizations or individual people. However there may be more information about which department is responsible within a museum for the curation of the object. This is the division between acquisitions (the legal ownership of the object) and custody (the responsibility for looking after the object). If the department is known, then it should be either part of the Provenance Event in which the object is acquired, or a separate provenance event if the object was not accessioned by a department and later came under their care, or was transferred between departments. In these latter cases, the ownership does not change, only the custody of the object.

The department becomes the current_keeper of the object, whereas the institution is the current_owner, as described in the object section. The transfer model is otherwise identical to other transfers of custody.

Example:

Spring is acquired by the Getty, and custody given to the Paintings department.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/provenance/payneheirs_getty/2",
  "type": "Activity",
  "_label": "Purchase of Spring",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Provenance Activity"
    }
  ],
  "part": [
    {
      "type": "Acquisition",
      "_label": "Acquisition of Painting",
      "transferred_title_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Spring"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_title_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/payne_heirs",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Family of Oliver Payne"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_title_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/getty",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "J. Paul Getty Museum"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "TransferOfCustody",
      "_label": "Custody by Department",
      "transferred_custody_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/spring",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Spring"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/payne_heirs",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Family of Oliver Payne"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/getty_ptgs",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Paintings Department"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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(provenance/payneheirs_getty/2) class O1 event; O1-- type -->O1_0[Activity] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Purchase of Spring''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300055863) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Provenance Activity''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O2 O3( _ ) class O3 event; O3-- type -->O3_0[Acquisition] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_2("''Acquisition of Painting''") class O3_2 literal; O4(object/spring) class O4 object; O4-- type -->O4_0[HumanMadeObject] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Spring''") class O4_3 literal; O3-- transferred_title_of -->O4 O5(group/payne_heirs) class O5 actor; O5-- type -->O5_0[Group] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Family of Oliver Payne''") class O5_3 literal; O3-- transferred_title_from -->O5 O6(group/getty) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''J. Paul Getty Museum''") class O6_3 literal; O3-- transferred_title_to -->O6 O1-- part -->O3 O7( _ ) class O7 event; O7-- type -->O7_0[TransferOfCustody] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_2("''Custody by Department''") class O7_2 literal; O7-- transferred_custody_of -->O4 O7-- transferred_custody_from -->O5 O8(group/getty_ptgs) class O8 actor; O8-- type -->O8_0[Group] class O8_0 classstyle; O8-- _label -->O8_3("''Paintings Department''") class O8_3 literal; O7-- transferred_custody_to -->O8 O1-- part -->O7

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Theft and Loss

The theft of an object is also the (illegal) transfer of custody of the object, rather than a transfer of ownership. If the stolen object were recovered, then it would be restored to its owner. Stolen, or looted as a special case of theft, objects and their repatriation are an interesting and important part of the provenance of a work and frequently contested. A single theft event might involve stealing multiple objects, in the same way that the purchase of an auction lot might involve the acquisition of multiple objects for a combined payment.

An object being lost (as opposed to stolen) is the transfer of custody away from its current owner, without stating a recipient. In the future, if the object is discovered, the recipient might be able to be filled in. If the object is then returned to the owner, there would be the reverse transfer of custody from the party that found it. It might be that the owner simply loses track of it, and although it is still in their possession, they are not aware of it ... it has no custodian, but it has not moved and the owner still owns it.

Example:

The Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 by Vincenzo Peruggia.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/provenance/mona_lisa_theft/1",
  "type": "Activity",
  "_label": "Theft of Mona Lisa",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Provenance Activity"
    }
  ],
  "part": [
    {
      "type": "TransferOfCustody",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055292",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "Theft"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/monalisa",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Mona Lisa"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/group/louvre",
          "type": "Group",
          "_label": "Louvre"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/peruggia",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Vincenzo Peruggia"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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(provenance/mona_lisa_theft/1) class O1 event; O1-- type -->O1_0[Activity] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Theft of Mona Lisa''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300055863) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Provenance Activity''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O2 O3( _ ) class O3 event; O3-- type -->O3_0[TransferOfCustody] class O3_0 classstyle; O4(aat:300055292) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''Theft''") class O4_3 literal; O3-- classified_as -->O4 O5(object/monalisa) class O5 object; O5-- type -->O5_0[HumanMadeObject] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Mona Lisa''") class O5_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_of -->O5 O6(group/louvre) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Group] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Louvre''") class O6_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_from -->O6 O7(person/peruggia) class O7 actor; O7-- type -->O7_0[Person] class O7_0 classstyle; O7-- _label -->O7_3("''Vincenzo Peruggia''") class O7_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_to -->O7 O1-- part -->O3

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Sale of Stolen or Looted Objects

If a stolen object is sold, then that purchase is actually just a transfer of custody in exchange for money (or other payment). Typically, of course, the nature of that transaction is not discovered until long after the fact. This can then have many effects on the provenance record for the object as suddenly many acquisitions would be retroactively changed to being transfers of custody. This updating of the historical record is necessary without going to great lengths to model the belief that an acquisition is legal for the vast majority of cases when it is, just to allow that belief to be incorrect for the few times when it is not.

Example:

A painting by Joseph Henry Sharp, "Cheyenne Oklahoma", was stolen from the Harwood Museum in Taos, New Mexico and then sold (at auction) for $52,650 to an undisclosed buyer.

{
  "@context": "https://linked.art/ns/v1/linked-art.json",
  "id": "https://linked.art/example/provenance/sharp_sale/1",
  "type": "Activity",
  "_label": "Purchase of Stolen Painting",
  "classified_as": [
    {
      "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863",
      "type": "Type",
      "_label": "Provenance Activity"
    }
  ],
  "part": [
    {
      "type": "TransferOfCustody",
      "_label": "Sale of Painting",
      "classified_as": [
        {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300438484",
          "type": "Type",
          "_label": "sale of stolen goods"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_of": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/object/cheyenne",
          "type": "HumanMadeObject",
          "_label": "Cheyenne Oklahoma"
        }
      ],
      "transferred_custody_from": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/alter",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Jerry Alter"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "Payment",
      "paid_amount": {
        "type": "MonetaryAmount",
        "_label": "Payment to Thief",
        "value": 52650,
        "currency": {
          "id": "http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300411994",
          "type": "Currency",
          "_label": "US Dollars"
        }
      },
      "paid_to": [
        {
          "id": "https://linked.art/example/person/alter",
          "type": "Person",
          "_label": "Jerry Alter"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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(provenance/sharp_sale/1) class O1 event; O1-- type -->O1_0[Activity] class O1_0 classstyle; O1-- _label -->O1_4("''Purchase of Stolen Painting''") class O1_4 literal; O2(aat:300055863) class O2 type; O2-- type -->O2_0[Type] class O2_0 classstyle; O2-- _label -->O2_3("''Provenance Activity''") class O2_3 literal; O1-- classified_as -->O2 O3( _ ) class O3 event; O3-- type -->O3_0[TransferOfCustody] class O3_0 classstyle; O3-- _label -->O3_2("''Sale of Painting''") class O3_2 literal; O4(aat:300438484) class O4 type; O4-- type -->O4_0[Type] class O4_0 classstyle; O4-- _label -->O4_3("''sale of stolen goods''") class O4_3 literal; O3-- classified_as -->O4 O5(object/cheyenne) class O5 object; O5-- type -->O5_0[HumanMadeObject] class O5_0 classstyle; O5-- _label -->O5_3("''Cheyenne Oklahoma''") class O5_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_of -->O5 O6(person/alter) class O6 actor; O6-- type -->O6_0[Person] class O6_0 classstyle; O6-- _label -->O6_3("''Jerry Alter''") class O6_3 literal; O3-- transferred_custody_from -->O6 O1-- part -->O3 O7( _ ) class O7 event; O7-- type -->O7_0[Payment] class O7_0 classstyle; O8( _ ) class O8 dims; O8-- type -->O8_0[MonetaryAmount] class O8_0 classstyle; O8-- _label -->O8_2("''Payment to Thief''") class O8_2 literal; O8-- value -->O8_3(52650) class O8_3 literal; O9(aat:300411994) class O9 type; O9-- type -->O9_0[Currency] class O9_0 classstyle; O9-- _label -->O9_3("''US Dollars''") class O9_3 literal; O8-- currency -->O9 O7-- paid_amount -->O8 O7-- paid_to -->O6 O1-- part -->O7

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Exhibitions

Exhibitions are a common way that the custody of an object changes, while the ownership remains the same. Exhibitions are described in more detail here.