Acquiring Objects Due Diligence Checklist

Acquiring Objects – Due Diligence Checklist

This checklist will help you to follow up lines of enquiry to establish the ownership and history of the object you are acquiring. It is a useful checklist for both cultural heritage and commercial organisations.

Keep this checklist and the evidence to support it with your documentation about the object.

The source of the object:
Are you sure that you are acquiring the object from a reputable source? /
Is the seller a member of a professional trade organisation? /
Have you checked the object against published Databases of Stolen Cultural Property? /
Does the asking price equate to the market value of the object? /
Does the object come from an area of the world such as Afghanistan, South East Asia, Iraq or Syria which has experienced a significant amount of illicit excavation in recent years?
-If the object is from Syria, there is currently an EU embargo on the export/import of cultural property from Syria – see Art’s Council Notice for Exporters: Cultural Objects from Syria)
-If the object is from Iraq (there is currently a UN embargo on the import/export of Iraqi cultural property - see Art’s Council’s Notice for Exporters: Cultural Property from Iraq) /
Have you checked the ICOM Red Lists? (ICOM Red Lists classify the endangered categories of archaeological objects or works of art in the most vulnerable areas of the world, in order to prevent them being sold or illegally exported) /
Have you taken advice about the object and its source from experts in the field either in this country or from the country of origin? /
Have you seen any of the following original documents which relate to the object?
An export licence from the country of origin /
Publication in a reputable source at a date that proves its legitimate permanent export from the country of origin /
A will specifically mentioning the item /
An inventory specifically mentioning the item /
Photographic evidence /
Family correspondence specifically mentioning the item /
An auction catalogue /
Excavation field notes /
Receipt of purchase /
Have you examined the object?
Does it show signs of certain types of ingrained dust or dirt or has annotations which may demonstrate it has been on display, used or stored as part of an older collection? /
Does it have a distinctive type of mount, mounting or binding that is likely to be from a particular period? /
Has it been mended, partially restored or changed from its original condition? Can you tell from this the period of restoration/conservation work? /
Does the object carry old labels, inscriptions or other marks that offer clues about the presence and/ r use in former collections? /
If it does carry such marks and labels, have you checked that they are not forged or, if genuine, transferred from other items? /
Are there any signs that the object has been recently excavated and may therefore have been acquired illicitly? /
Are there any signs that the object has come from a larger object or from a building or monument? /