Some of the lots being offered at Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz sale at Christie's on September 21.
A blockchain is an online ledger of data or transactions that is difficult to hack, forge or amend and can be used to record transactions securely.
Paris-based Steinitz specialises in 18th and 19th century furniture and sculpture and will auction 58 lots in a sale titled Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz at Christie’s on September 21 in London.
The collection will be registered and secured on the blockchain through Artory, an art tech firm that specialises in blockchain-secured registration of physical artworks and collectables. Christie’s said the buyers of the lots will receive a secure, encrypted certification of the sale which provides “a permanent digital record of the information about the artwork”.
Among the lots being offered at Provenance Revealed: Galerie Steinitz is this (one of a pair) c.1805 Empire marble demi-lune console table (originally in the collection of Elisa Bonaparte) estimated at €120,000-240,000 and a set of eight c.1785 Louis XVI grey and white-painted chaises by Georges Jacob estimated at £120,000-180,000.
Steinitz said: “We are very pleased to add this valuable data to the blockchain – a first in the history of Decorative Arts – through Christie’s collaboration with Artory; to create an everlasting link between the work of art, its authenticity and its provenance.”
The collection is estimated in the region of £3.5m and will be on view at Christie’s London from September 12-20.
