Conditions — OIMAP

An admissible application from the start

Portrait Head of a Noble or Official (175–200 CE)

Not all works can be certified in all conditions. This page indicates what is eligible, what is not and what is required of the applicant.

The conditions serve a double purpose: to protect the applicant from a late refusal and to protect the market from the certification of works of doubtful origin.

They are checked at the admissibility stage, within 5 working days of submission.

Eligibility
Applicant
Exclusions

The conditions in brief

5working days of checking

5categories of works covered

0BIOP alert admitted

12expert specialties

The five basic conditions

A case is admissible if the following conditions are met:

The work is identifiable and can be examined (on site or in a laboratory)
The applicant proves their identity and their right to act
The work is subject to no BIOP alert or restitution proceedings
An accredited expert specialty covers the artist, period or technique
The price and the deposit are accepted

Eligible works

The categories covered by the certificate of authenticity
Category	Examples	Expert specialties
Painting	Oils, watercolours, icons, miniatures	Old masters, 19th century, modern
Sculpture	Bronzes, marbles, wood, terracotta	Ancient and modern sculpture
Graphic arts and photography	Prints, drawings, vintage prints	Graphic arts, photography
Decorative arts	Furniture, ceramics, glass, silverware	Decorative arts
Tribal arts	Masks, statues, ritual objects	Africa, Oceania, Americas

Chemin de fer de Toulouse à Bayonne. Pont de l'Aran (en trois arches de 17m d'ouverture chacune). Situation des travaux au 21 juillet 1861, Édouard Baldus (1861)

Interior of a Synagogue, Alessandro Magnasco (c. 1725–35)

The Triumph of Mordecai, Lucas van Leyden (1515)

Who can submit a case

The owner, their representative holding a written mandate, the heir proving their capacity, or the legal representative of a legal entity. An auction house may submit a case for a lot on consignment with the seller's written consent.

The applicant undertakes on their honour to disclose any known element that could affect the conclusion: restoration, prior challenge, negative expert opinion.

A special case: the living artist

In which cases is the request inadmissible?

Grounds of inadmissibility
Situation	Ground	What to do
BIOP alert on the work	Possible theft or loss	Contact the Secretariat
Object from undeclared excavations	Presumed unlawful origin	Regularisation with the State concerned
Work under sequestration or seizure	Legal unavailability	Wait for the court's decision
Applicant without capacity	Right to act not shown	Provide a mandate or a succession deed
Unidentifiable work	Insufficient photographs or description	Complete the file

How admissibility is checked

Identity
Check of the identity document and, for a company, of the mandate.
Right to act
Verification of titles, invoices, succession deeds or mandates.
BIOP
Search for alerts on the work, its numbers and its artist.
Expert
Verification that an accredited specialty is available.
Quote
Drawing up of the quote and the amount of the deposit.

Old work or recent work

Portrait of Georges Arnold Fitzwilliam, Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin (c. 1790–1852)

Old work

More than 100 years old

Importance of material analyses
Extended archive research
Dating possible by carbon 14 if organic

Longer timeframe, strong probative value.

Recent work

Less than 50 years old

Confirmation by the artist or successor in title
Workshop and gallery documents
Few analyses necessary

Shorter timeframe.

Grounds of inadmissibility in 2024

Insufficient documents52%

Right to act not shown21%

BIOP alert9%

Unidentifiable work12%

Others6%

Source: Certification Department (indicative).

The Lock at Pontoise, Camille Pissarro (1872)

Portrait of a Man, Nicholas Freese (c. 1795–1800)

Case study: a representative

A file submitted by a gallery

Situation

A gallery wishes to have a bronze certified that it received on consignment for sale.

Actions

The submission is made with the consignment contract and the owner's written consent.
The Desk checks the owner's identity and the absence of a BIOP alert.
The file is declared admissible in four days.

Outcome

The certificate is issued in the owner's name, with the gallery mentioned as representative.

A principle of common sense

Plaque (1500s–1600s) — **Certification Department**, OIMAP

Vocabulary of eligibility

Admissibility: Check of the conditions before any examination.
Right to act: Capacity that authorises one to request the certification of a work.
Mandate: Written authority given to the submitter by the owner.
Sequestration: Placing of an asset under judicial control pending a decision.

Frequently asked questions

Can a restored work be certified?

Yes, if the restorations are declared. They are described in the certificate.

Is a work in co-ownership admitted?

Yes, with the written consent of all co-owners.

Can a work abroad be certified?

Yes, if a branch or partner laboratory can examine it; otherwise a supervised transport is arranged.

My file is inadmissible: do I lose the deposit?

The deposit is refunded in full if inadmissibility is declared at the admissibility stage.

Contacts

Pair of Drawings: Sketch of the Labyrinth of the Villa Pisani and Piazza San Marco with Doges' Palace, Francesco Guardi (1773–1778(?))

Certification DepartmentParis — Headquarters+33 1 00 00 00 00certification@oimap.exampleMonday to Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Put the file together

Adoration of the Shepherds, Carlo Dolci (c. 1670)

Are the conditions met? See which documents to gather.

File to provide

Image credits (16)

Mercury (Budha), from a Mandi Astrology Series, Sanju (c. 1810) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Portrait Head of a Noble or Official (175–200 CE) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Chemin de fer de Toulouse à Bayonne. Pont de l'Aran (en trois arches de 17m d'ouverture chacune). Situation des travaux au 21 juillet 1861, Édouard Baldus (1861) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Interior of a Synagogue, Alessandro Magnasco (c. 1725–35) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
The Triumph of Mordecai, Lucas van Leyden (1515) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Portrait of Georges Arnold Fitzwilliam, Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de Saint-Mémin (c. 1790–1852) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Seal Color Box (1662–1722) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
The Lock at Pontoise, Camille Pissarro (1872) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Seal Color Box (1662–1722) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Portrait of a Man, Nicholas Freese (c. 1795–1800) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Plaque (1500s–1600s) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Pair of Drawings: Sketch of the Labyrinth of the Villa Pisani and Piazza San Marco with Doges' Palace, Francesco Guardi (1773–1778(?)) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Portrait of a Woman, Corneille de Lyon (c. 1540) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Letter Box, Ogata Kōrin (1700s) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Seal with Two Qilin Playing (1849) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
Adoration of the Shepherds, Carlo Dolci (c. 1670) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0