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24 October 2026 · Updated at 07:47 GMT FR EN ES Member area Log in
Certification

Provenance certificates

The provenance certificate reconstructs and attests the chain of ownership of a work, from its creation to its current owner.

Updated : October 28, 2026· 4 min read

Pages in this section

Seal of Doge Michele Steno (reverse) (1400–1409)ConditionsWorks concerned, capacity of the applicant and cases in which an application for a provenance certificate is inadmissible.› Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di Roma, Giovanni Battista Nolli (1748)File to provideAcquisition documents, archives, catalogues, exhibitions and photographs to gather for an application for a provenance certificate.› Seal Color Box (1662–1722)TimeframesFrom 3 to 6 weeks: the timeline of an application for a provenance certificate and the factors that lengthen it.›

Telling the story of a work, with evidence

Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di Roma, Giovanni Battista Nolli (1748)
Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di Roma, Giovanni Battista Nolli (1748)

An authentic work can be unsellable if its history has gaps. The provenance certificate fills those gaps, or shows that there are none.

It traces, owner by owner, the path of the work from its creation: sales, successions, exhibitions, loans, restorations, movements. Every link is supported by a document or clearly flagged as a presumption.

It is the reference act for restitutions, for works that may have been looted or unlawfully exported, and for all high-level sales.

  • Chain of ownership
  • Archives
  • BIOP check

Provenance in figures

2,180certificates issued
3 to 6weeks timeframe
€700indicative price excl. VAT
48,200works recorded in the BIOP

Source: OIMAP Observatory, 2024.

Three pages to prepare your application

Letter Box, Ogata Kōrin (1700s)EligibilityConditions

Works concerned, sensitive periods, capacity of the applicant.

›Illuminated Opening Page Titled Laila and Majnun from a Khamsa (Quintet) of Nizami of Ganja, Ja'far Baisunghuri (835 AH/1431–32 CE)PreparationFile to provide

Acquisition documents, family archives, catalogues, exhibitions.

›Nuova pianta di Roma data in luce da Giambattista Nolli l’anno MDCCXLVII, known as La Pianta Grande di Roma, Giovanni Battista Nolli (1748)CalendarTimeframes

Calendar and delay factors specific to archive research.

›

What the certificate attests

The certificate presents the chain of ownership as a series of entries: owner, period of holding, mode of acquisition, supporting documents. Periods without documents are flagged in plain words and ranked by seriousness.

It concludes with a reliability level: provenance established, established with minor gaps, significant gaps, or provenance not established. This conclusion is entered in the Registry and in the BIOP.

Fish or Seal Club (X’ús’) (late 1800s–early 1900s)
Fish or Seal Club (X’ús’) (late 1800s–early 1900s)
A Manuscript of Five Sections of a Qur'an (18th century)
A Manuscript of Five Sections of a Qur'an (18th century)
Teapot with Landscape and Imperial Poem, Chen Hanwen (1762–95)
Teapot with Landscape and Imperial Poem, Chen Hanwen (1762–95)

The reliability levels

Possible conclusions
LevelMeaningPractical consequence
EstablishedNo gap; documents for every linkSale and movement without reservation
Minor gapsShort gaps with no sign of spoliationSale possible, mention in the catalogue
Significant gapsSensitive period not documentedEnhanced diligence, conditional approval
Not establishedChain impossible to reconstructSale not advised, further research

How a provenance is reconstructed

  1. Inventory of documents

    Invoices, succession deeds, inventories, labels and stamps on the back.

  2. Archive research

    Public archives, auction houses, galleries, museums, family archives.

  3. BIOP cross-check

    Search for any alert, theft, loss or claim.

  4. Sensitive period

    Enhanced examination of the years 1933-1945 and of periods of conflict or looting.

  5. Drafting

    Formatting of the entries and conclusion on reliability.

Sensitive periods

Example of a chain of ownership

  1. Creation

    Work completed in the artist's studio.

  2. First sale

    Acquired by a Parisian dealer, invoice preserved.

  3. Succession

    Passed to a collector in Lyon by inheritance.

  4. Exhibition

    Lent to an exhibition at the museum in Geneva.

  5. Public sale

    Sold at public auction in London.

  6. Current owner

    Private collection in Singapore.

Provenance and title of ownership

Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians" (c. 1600)

Provenance certificate

Tells the story
  • Documents all successive owners
  • Assesses the reliability of the chain
  • No effect on rights

Qualified information.

Document Box (Ryōshibako) with Chrysanthemum and Plum (lid) (late 1800s-early 1900s)

Title of ownership

Establishes the right
  • Recognises the current owner
  • Enforceable against third parties after publication
  • Rests on provenance

Legal act, see Title of ownership.

Reliability level of certificates issued in 2024

Established50%
Minor gaps30%
Significant gaps15%
Not established5%

Share of the 2,180 certificates. Source: OIMAP Observatory.

Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (verso), Bihzad (c. 1485)
Left side of a double-page album folio: Outside a Royal Encampment (recto) and Calligraphy, Persian Verses (verso), Bihzad (c. 1485)
Carved Lacquer Scroll Box (1736–95)
Carved Lacquer Scroll Box (1736–95)
Seven Jeweled Mountain (late 1800s)
Seven Jeweled Mountain (late 1800s)

Case study: a wartime period

A gap from 1939 to 1946

Situation

A painting changes hands before 1939 then reappears in 1946 at a dealer's, with no document for the period.

Actions
  1. Research in the dealer's archives and in restitution registers.
  2. Search of the BIOP and of looted-property databases.
  3. Cross-checking with the owning family's inventories of 1939.
Outcome

The gap is filled by an inventory of 1941 and an invoice of 1946: provenance established.

A precautionary principle

Seal with Two Qilin Playing (1849)
« A silent provenance is not an innocent provenance: it is a question asked. »
Prof. Hiroshi Tanabe, member of the certification committee

Questions the expert asks

Vocabulary of provenance

Provenance
Sequence of successive owners of a work.
Gap
Period of the chain with no document.
Spoliation
Dispossession of property by force or coercion.
Post-death inventory
List of the property of an estate, a major source of provenance.

Frequently asked questions

Is a provenance certificate mandatory to sell?

Not always, but it is required for the sales approval of certain items and by most auction houses for sensitive lots.

What happens if a gap is discovered?

It is flagged in the file and reliability is lowered accordingly; further research is offered.

Who can consult the certificate?

The owner, and any third party with the OIMAP number and the QR code for the public part.

Does a later claim cancel the certificate?

It updates it: an alert is entered in the Registry and the certificate is suspended pending a decision.

Useful documents

Contacts

Egypt and Nubia, Volume I: The Great Temple of Aboo-Simble, Nubia, Louis Haghe (1846)
Egypt and Nubia, Volume I: The Great Temple of Aboo-Simble, Nubia, Louis Haghe (1846)
Certification DepartmentParis — Headquarters+33 1 00 00 00 00certification@oimap.exampleMonday to Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Have a provenance established

Bifolium from a Bible: Initial E[t factum est] with Ezekiel (c. 1290)

First look at the conditions of the application.

See the conditions
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