Why Provenance Matters

A certificate of authenticity proves one thing: that somebody was willing to sign their name. Whether that signature means anything depends on questions most buyers never ask.

Ask these five. Who signed it, and what do they stand to lose if wrong? What exactly is certified — the maker, the age, the material, or all three? Is there a paper chain, or does the story begin at this dealer? Has the piece been restored, and is the restoration documented separately? And finally: if the certificate vanished, would you still pay this price for the object in front of you?

That last question is the collector's compass. Provenance adds confidence and value, but the object must carry itself. At CheeseMetal, every provenance claim on a listing is backed by documents we hold and disclose — and where we cannot verify, the listing says so plainly.

The most honest sentence in this trade is "maker unattributed." Treat it as a mark of a dealer you can trust about everything else.