The history of an object — who owned it, where it has been, how it reached the person selling it.
For most things it does not matter at all. For a few, it is most of the value.
When it matters
Anything whose worth depends on a story. A signed item, a piece with a named maker, something from a particular workshop or period.
Anything frequently faked. Provenance is how a genuine example separates itself from a good copy.
Anything that might not be the seller's to sell. This is the one buyers forget. A clean trail is also evidence the thing was not stolen.
What counts as evidence
In rough order of weight:
- A receipt or invoice from the original purchase
- A certificate from the maker, or from a recognised body
- Photographs of the item with its previous owner, or in a known collection
- An auction catalogue entry, if it has been sold before
- Original packaging, labels or paperwork that match
- A named, checkable chain — "bought from this dealer in this year"
What only looks like evidence
"From a private collection." Says nothing. Every object in the world is from a private collection.
A certificate from a name you cannot look up. A certificate is only worth the reputation of whoever signed it, and some are printed by the seller.
A long confident story with nothing attached to it. The commonest form of invented provenance is not a forged document; it is a good anecdote. If none of it can be checked, treat it as colour rather than as evidence.
A photograph of the item. Proves the item exists, not where it came from.
How to ask without being rude
Say what you want to see, not whether you believe them:
"What came with it?" Open, and a seller with paperwork will immediately start listing it.
"How did it reach you?" Normal to ask and easy to answer honestly.
"Can you hold the certificate up to the camera?" Live video is exactly the right tool. How a live auction show works
A seller who takes offence at the first two questions has answered a different and more useful question.
What Metzee does and does not do
Metzee does not verify provenance, hold documents, or certify anything. There is no provenance field and no badge.
What it does give you is a seller who has been checked as a person with a real payout account, a live video call in which to ask, and a route if what arrives is not what was described. How buyer protection works
For sellers
Photograph the paperwork and say what you do not have. "No receipt, bought at an estate sale in 2019" is good provenance writing — it is honest, specific and checkable in outline.
Claiming more than you can show is the one move that turns a sale into a dispute you lose, because the case is decided on the description. How to write a condition description
More: provenance and why it matters, what is professional grading, Metzee’s position on counterfeits.