— Applications
Where SARVAH is put to work
Each application is explored the same way — through Qest, starting from an object, a document, a name or a question.
Provenance research
Reconstruct the movement, ownership history, documentary references and missing episodes in the life of an object. SARVAH can help organise dispersed evidence, identify gaps and compare competing accounts of provenance.
Due diligence
Examine provenance information, inconsistencies, gaps and relevant documentary sources before an acquisition, a sale, a loan, an exhibition or a publication. SARVAH supports investigation but does not replace legal, scholarly or commercial expertise.
Research assistance
Support researchers in structuring a corpus, testing hypotheses, tracing evidence, comparing sources and identifying new directions for investigation.
Public discovery
Give a wider audience the ability to explore the histories surrounding cultural objects and understand how knowledge is progressively constructed — engaging without oversimplifying the complexity of the evidence.
Attribution and identification
Compare characteristics, connect references, investigate possible artists, workshops or sitters, and document evidence both for and against a proposed attribution.
Collection intelligence
Connect objects in a collection with archives, people, places, events, publications and related works held elsewhere — revealing the wider historical and intellectual context of a collection.
Auction and catalogue intelligence
Analyse catalogue descriptions, object histories and supporting documentation to identify missing information, inconsistencies, overlooked relationships and areas requiring further verification.