provenance

The place or source that something comes from.

• The label gives the cheese's provenance.
• We could not establish the provenance of these seeds.
• Customers increasingly ask about the provenance of their food.

How to use it: the provenance of something (We checked the provenance of the meat.)

Similar words: origin, source

Common phrases: food provenance, unknown provenance, provenance of something, cultural provenance

The record of who has owned a work of art since it was made.

• The painting has a clear provenance.
• Auction records helped us trace its provenance.
• Collectors paid more because the sculpture's provenance was fully documented.

How to use it: the provenance of something (The gallery researched the provenance of the portrait.)

Similar words: ownership history

Common phrases: documented provenance, royal provenance, establish provenance

The place and period in which an old object was made.

• The vase is of Greek provenance.
• Experts disagree about the sword's provenance.
• Its decoration helped researchers establish its provenance.

How to use it: of ... provenance (The museum owns a helmet of Roman provenance.)

Similar words: origin

Common phrases: ancient provenance, provenance of something, uncertain provenance

To find and record where something came from or who owned it.

• The museum hired an expert to provenance the vase.
• Researchers provenanced the objects before the sale.
• How will you provenance a painting with no surviving records?

Similar words: trace the origin of

Common phrases: provenance an object, provenance a painting