Provenance Provenance is a term used to describe the chronology of ownership, chain of custody or location of a historic object. It provides vital information that can inform the value of an object, and, more importantly, it also provides a historical record and timeline that can help to reveal the story of an object. Depending on how much of the chronology of ownership survives, we can piece together how and when historical timekeepers initially passed from the care of their makers into the hands of their first owners, then another owner, and yet more subsequent owners and caretakers up to the present day. Sometimes, there are gaps in the provenance of an object. This means that the whereabouts of the object are unknown for a given period of time. For example, the provenance of the Teiger Shelton Solar Longcase, made by John Shelton the Younger in 1736, is unknown until 2001. While there is an oral tradition that it was commissioned by King João (John) V ‘the Magnanimous’ of Portugal (b. 1689, d. 1750) and found a home in the Portuguese Palace-Convent Mafra[1], this cannot be verified. In fact, the Teiger Shelton does not appear in the horological record until 2001, at which time it is documented as having come from the Teiger Collection in Milan, Italy. What is more, there is no knowledge of how it came to be part of that collection. In 2001, documentation reveals that it was acquired by Bobinet Antique Clocks and Watches in London. From 2001, its provenance is known and well-documented up to the present day. End Note [1] Tirapicos 2017; 2023. Reference Tirapicos, L. 2023. ‘Directions of precision: George Graham’s instructions for his pendulum astronomical clocks’ in Annals of Science: 1–15. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37983075/
