Crime and Art by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030848569
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Pre-Columbian vessel This vessel, dating from 200bc to 150ad, was used for storing essential fluids for rituals. would have been owned by a high ranking shaman.

This kind of narrative, which is more commonly associated with ethnographic objects, focuses on the idea of sacred, esoteric, powerful and somehow ‘exotic’ and ‘primitive’, involving shamans. The fact that the seller chose to present the object’s authenticity and its value through this specific piece of information about the antiquity’s biography and decide to emphasise ‘primitivising’ aspects reflects the seller convictions about buyer’s expectations.

Regardless the importance of provenience to define authenticity, it is more frequent that an antiquity on the market is provided with provenance information. The effects of provenance within the market have been discussed from different perspectives (see Brodie, 2014a, 2014b) but I believe it cannot be estimated unconditionally to what extent provenance has a role in the attribution of authenticity. However, surely ownership history means that the piece has been validated as valuable by many different individuals. Previous owners’ prominence also contributes to the negotiation of authenticity and value, and as Geismar said (2001: p. 36) objects are somehow personified and incorporated “into real family trees”. The fact that a well know collector or scholar believe the object to be authentic, legitimises the antiquity in terms of acculturated appreciation. The same mechanism happens when an unprovenienced antiquity is published and literature is cited in market listings. While the Moche vessel listed on eBay does not have any provenance specification, the one at Sotheby’s (2014) has passed through three different collections and surfaced, namely first appeared on sale, in 1970.

Narratives about antiquities collecting underline the importance of ownership history, namely provenance, as they narrate the seller’s personal connection to the object’s biography. At Sotheby’s, narratives about collecting mainly consists of mentioning owners’ collecting practices and standards. Indeed, Sotheby’s tends to underline the association of pre-Columbian antiquities and Western art in the collectors’ taste. This narrative technique automatically “promotes to fine art”, as Clifford would say (1988, p. 224), not just the items owned by the famous collector, but all the antiquities associated to them within the auction. This is what happened with the Moche stirrup vessel considered. In eBay, the connection between the items and the vendor’s collecting habit is as variable as any other element of online listings. While it frequently lays in ‘treasure hunting’ discourses, in my eBay case I note that the seller, who had more pre-Columbian pots on sale in 2018, frequently referred to their wide Pre-Columbian collection, once referred to Sotheby’s, once to a general Manhattan estate, and most times did not mention any collecting narrative. This summarises the diversity among eBay listings narratives about collecting.

Physical description of the piece is also significant, especially on eBay as buyers cannot personally inspect the object. Physical descriptions of the items are indeed frequently (but not always) present in eBay listings, and the antiquity of the piece is frequently referred to, usually by descriptions of physical damage such as scratches, patinas, mineral/manganese deposits, root marks derived from use, or archaeological provenience.

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