The word ‘provenance’ means ‘origin’. It is the equivalent of ‘history of ownership’, or ‘paper trail’.

Museums have a large number of personnel on staff who are dedicated to establishing the precise provenance and authenticity of the pieces in their stewardship. The research is very complex, challenging, and costly. In many [or possibly most] instances the history of an item has gaps, because of poor [or no] records, ambiguities, and so forth. In addition, the sophisticated technological examination to verify age is quite costly. Finally, there are the sometimes conflicting opinions of experts relating to who the artist was, for example.

In some instances, it literally costs several times more than the value of an object to have it carbon-dated, examined by an expert microscopically, and so forth.

In the case of rare books and historical newspapers, for example, their age and authenticity are generally obvious. However, as is the case with most collectibles, there is rarely a specific history of ownership or certified ‘chain of custody’.

With most ‘minor’ art works and antiquities, there is not a known chain of custody. Even famous artists produced many, many original works. Among the reasons for that is the reality that they had to eat and pay rent. Most artists were very prolific, producing several hundred, or even tens of thousands of pieces [such was the case of Picasso, who is believed to have created 20-25,000 drawings].

Likewise, objects of great antiquity were commonly mass-produced. Ancient clay lamps and amulets, for example, were produced by the hundreds of thousands.

Collectible items are bought and sold between collectors, passed on through family members, sold at auctions, and so forth; records are seldom kept. Some of the items we offer for sale have a letter of authentication or appraisal; most do not. Most of the items sold at Enigma Rarities were originally part of the personal collection of the proprietor, David Clark, who acquired them for his own personal enjoyment or study over the past 30 years. He purchased [or traded] them from individual collectors, auction houses, estate sales, and [rarely] from museums.

We offer a guarantee with all antiquities and art sold at Enigma Rarities. Original drawings, for example, are ‘attributed to’ a particular artist. Antiquities are presented ‘circa’ [meaning ‘about’ a certain time period.]

All antiquities and art purchased from Enigma Rarities comes with a conditional 30-day money-back guarantee. Once you have purchased the item, you may take it to a reputable antiquities or art appraiser for authentication and valuation. If you are not satisfied with your appraiser's evaluation, you may return the item, in the same condition in which it was purchased, and with a letter of evaluation and appraisal from the expert you have chosen, within 30 days of your purchase, and receive a full refund of your purchase price.

We fully respect that some customers wish to have their purchases authenticated and appraised by a third party. Although we may disagree with the appraiser's opinion, it is our intention to satisfy our customers.