I livetweeted this session in order to highlight some of the key points that were made during the workshop. Because each of the talks turned out to be quite captivating, I was rather minimalistic in my thoughts.
Interested in the long lives of antiquities? Come to Session 7I: Researching Ownership Histories at the #aiascs tomorrow, 8 am, City Hall.
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 7, 2017
@GettyMuseum has been fortunate to be able to invest so much in provenance research. How can museums w/ less resources follow suit? #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Focus of this panel will be on objects already in museum collections, rather than acquisition policies #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
1) Paul Denis, Royal Ontario Museum, "Verifying a Provenance"
Paul Denis from @ROMtoronto is first on recent acquisitions and verifying provenance. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Denis states the importance of having auction catalogues in museum libraries for verifying provenance. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
If an auction piece can be viewed sufficiently ahead of time, one can research fully & properly before purchase, says Denis #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Digitized online archives are a rich resource for researching provenance. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
What's the ratio of museum professionals vs archaeologists in this audience? #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
2nd speaker, Seth Pevnick, on the @TampaMuseumArt and J.V. Noble collection #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Specifically, Noble's research into purchase of a statue of Neptune. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Again, provenance research is aided by online collections, now those of the @britishmuseum #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Provenance research is diligent about going back far more than the 1970 UNESCO standards. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Find as much history as possible. Close the gaps. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
3rd speaker Ann Brownlee on @pennmuseum collections. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Brownlee taught a grad seminar on collectors and donors to explore issues of provenance in the collection. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
The answer is no - but perhaps he was the most prolific:Was Beazley the 1st provenance researcher? On a Berlin P vase @ Penn that he traced its history. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
(Probably not, but it would be a fun historiography project!) #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Judith Barr from @GettyMuseum is next on possibilities for provenance research #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Challenge of researching objects sold together that do or don't belong together #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Barr illustrates the remarkable difference before and after provenance research for filling in the gaps. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Barr emphasizes the careful consideration, patience, and serendipity of provenance research #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Phoebe Segal from @mfaboston on best practices for findspot terminology is next! #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
has its own Provenance Curator - are there other museums that have one? #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
What is our obligation to share info about provenance and how should it be done? In installations? In outreach? #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Next is Amy Brauer from @harvartmuseums on responses to illicit trade and evolution of practices in transparency post-1970.
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Harvard's yearly publication, "Gifts & Bequests: A Policy Statement" led to a need for set of rigorous guidelines. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Guidelines are down to the precise date of UNESCO - November 17, 1970. Not just the year. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Brauer demonstrates how TMS is used for text strings of provenance that can be filled in fully before any acquisition #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Everyone agrees on the need for standard, consistent language of provenance and documentation in research #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
I agree, an ontology is vital for consistency. Not to mention RDF and LOD models so this info can be accessible. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
I had to duck out of the room for a few minutes, and after I returned, I was slightly distracted in trying to find the twitter handle for the North Carolina Art Museum (my bad), so I unfortunately missed a large part of Caroline's talk:Penultimate speaker, Caroline Rocheleau, on Egyptian antiquities research. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Rocheleau is from @ncartmuseum
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Emphasis for provenance info to be available beyond scholarly catalogues #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Last but not least is John Hopkins from @RiceUniversity on the Collections Analysis Collaborative (CAC) at @MenilCollection #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Hopkins stresses the CAC's role as both research but also educational - 2 universities + 1 museum collaborative #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
All are on the same side - academics AND museums, despite what the rhetoric sometimes suggests. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
An MOU was drawn up early as part of the process of collaboration and transparency #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
The CAC as the 1st time for museum professionals and academics to speak openly, frankly, and positively about orphaned objects #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
I ended with a couple more thoughts of my own:There is a mutual understanding of the work that can and needs tone done. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
Curators demonstrate phenomenal care for specific objects. I love, love, love this field. #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
I have more to write re; "Researching Ownership Histories;" I took notes by hand during the discussion. It was an enlightening panel #aiascs
— Jacquelyn Clements (@peripatesis) January 8, 2017
But, wait! Most of the papers from this panel have just been published, so you can now read them in full, in addition to two other panels from the AIA Toronto, all pertaining to the history of collecting and provenance of antiquities.