Crucial Question: Where Did It Come From?

Provenance has become a major issue for museums. “We’re still figuring out what can be acquired and sold without problems, as opposed to 40 or 50 years ago, when people were much more careless about ownership history. The question to me now is, where do we draw the line? What if a piece was already in circulation before these new standards? The archaeologists don’t have an answer to that. They don’t say throw it out, and they don’t encourage you to buy it. What are we supposed to do?”