LONDON.- The British Antique Dealers’ Association announced that, Certificates of BADA Provenance are available to members of the association. Since its foundation in 1918, the BADA has set the standard for trading in the antiques business. Its main aim is to establish and maintain confidence between its members and the public, both in buying and selling.

Provenance is a crucial element in the sales process and of importance to the art market at large, and for the first time, the fact that an object has been bought from a member of the British Antiques Dealers' Association can now be recorded as part of its permanent provenance. This new initiative will offer a facility for BADA members to provide their clients with a certificate of provenance, which will be recorded by the Association and provide a useful service to the BADA membership. The certificates can be issued for any items current members have sold or are offering to sell. It is envisaged that owners of artifacts will keep the certificates with the objects and pass them on to future owners. Once an object is shown to have passed through the hands of a BADA dealer, it will undoubtedly be better regarded in the marketplace at large.

Commenting, BADA Chairman, Michael Cohen said, “When we present this initiative at regional meetings our members are showing great enthusiasm for the idea and see the certificates as an excellent means of publicising the collective knowledge of the membership in a tangible form”.

The certificates will be especially appealing to overseas buyers, in particular buyers from new markets such as China and Turkey, where collectors will welcome this added assurance. Details of all certificates will be held on a centralised database by the Association, which will enable the public to check with BADA whether or not the certificate they hold is genuine. To ensure quality control and security, the hardcopies of the certificates will be issued from BADA’s London Headquarters.

Members of the British Antique Dealers’ Association pride themselves on their reputation for integrity, wide knowledge of their chosen field of specialisation and the high quality of their stock. It is for this reason that a member of the public can have confidence when buying from, or selling to, a member of the BADA.