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How to Record Where an Heirloom Came From
Heshan Fernando
Co-founder & COO
A brass compass sits in a drawer. The person who knows it was carried from Colombo in 1948, by whom, and why, is 87.
When that knowledge goes, the object becomes a brass compass. Everything that made it worth keeping was in one person’s memory.
Record the chain, working backwards
Provenance is a chain of custody: who owned it, when, and how it passed on.
Working backwards from the present is easier than forwards, because each step is a question you can ask the previous owner or someone who knew them.
For each link:
Who — full name, and their relationship to the next person in the chain.
When — dates or a period. “Late 1940s” is a legitimate entry.
How it passed — inherited, given, purchased, found.
Where they were — location matters for context and for verification.
Gaps are normal and should be recorded as gaps rather than smoothed over. “Between 1979 and 1994 its location is unknown” is a useful, honest entry. Inventing a plausible link to fill it destroys the credibility of everything around it.
Label the evidence honestly
The single most important discipline, and the one that determines whether the record is worth anything in fifty years.
For each claim, record how it is known:
Documented — a photograph showing it, a letter mentioning it, a receipt, a will, an inventory.
Direct account — someone who was there, saying what they saw.
Family account — a story passed down, told by someone who did not witness it.
Inference — a reasonable conclusion from other evidence, clearly marked as such.
Those are different kinds of knowledge, and conflating them ruins both. A record where a family story appears identical to a documented fact is a record nobody can rely on, and the documented facts lose credibility along with the stories.
| Evidence | Weight |
|---|---|
| Photograph showing the object | Strong |
| Contemporary document | Strong |
| Direct witness account | Good |
| Family story | Useful, clearly labelled |
| Inference | Weakest, must be marked |
Photograph the object and its marks
Photographs do two jobs.
Identification — establishing that the object described is the object you have. Overall shots from several angles.
Detail — maker’s marks, hallmarks, serial numbers, inscriptions, repairs, damage. These are what allow verification later, and what distinguishes one object from a similar one.
Include something for scale in at least one shot. Note the marks in text as well as photographing them, since a photograph of a worn hallmark may be unreadable to someone who does not already know what it says.
Repairs and damage are worth documenting rather than hiding. They are part of the object’s history, and an undocumented repair discovered later raises questions about the whole record.
Store it away from the object
The failure that makes all the work pointless.
A provenance record in the same box as the object is lost in the same fire, flood or house clearance. A record held only by the person who compiled it is lost when they are.
Two copies minimum, one off-site. Shared with at least one other family member, so it exists in more than one head as well as more than one place.
A digital copy in cloud storage, plus a printed copy kept with important documents rather than with the object, covers most scenarios. Mentioning where the record is kept in a will is not excessive for anything significant.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Presenting family stories as established fact.
- Filling gaps with plausible inventions.
- Photographing the object and not the marks.
- Keeping the only copy with the object.
- Waiting until the person who knows is no longer able to tell you.
How to do it with Heirloom Provenance Log
The Heirloom Provenance Log records the chain with evidence types.
- Work backwards from the present owner, one link at a time.
- Label the evidence for every claim, honestly.
- Photograph the object overall and every mark, with something for scale.
- Store the record separately from the object and share it with someone else.
Other record-keeping tools are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
Why record the evidence type?
Because a family story and a dated document are different kinds of knowledge. A record that conflates them is trusted less than one that distinguishes them, and the documented facts lose credibility alongside the stories.
Does provenance affect value?
For antiques and collectables it can substantially, and for family objects it is most of what makes them matter. Either way, a documented object is a different thing from an undocumented one.
Where should the record be kept?
Separately from the object, in more than one place, and shared with at least one other person. A record lost with the object has failed exactly when it was needed.
Final thought
Ask the person who knows, now, and write down how they know it. The object will outlast them; the story only will if somebody records it while it can still be checked.