Until recently, provenance research was the province of art scholars dealing primarily with issues of attribution and authenticity. But recent legal claims by heirs of Holocaust victims whose art works were looted or otherwise misappropriated by the Nazis, and claims by foreign “source” countries for objects they believe were exported in violation of patrimony or export laws, have raised awareness of the need for provenance research in regard to due diligence in acquiring wor

An intriguing restoration technique caught my eye this week. Kintsugi, or "golden joinery", is a Japanese restoration tradition, purportedly originating in the 15th c. after an Emperor was displeased by the aesthetic condition of a ceramic piece that had been rejoined with metallic staples. Since the start of the tradition, tea practicioners have often been accused of purposefully breaking their own dishes in order to lace them with gold. Whether this is true or not, kintsugi