The Auction That Was Withdrawn
Historical Background
Pieces reach resale with documentation of varying quality, and the archive's position has always been that a record it cannot verify is not a record it will confirm. That position is easy to hold in correspondence and harder to hold when a lot is already public.
Event Details
The lot was listed with photographs of papers that were formatted correctly and carried a number in the correct range. The number resolved to an archive record. The record described a different piece.
Two readings were possible: the papers belonged to another piece and had been attached to this one, or the papers were fabricated by someone with access to the correct format. The archive did not have grounds to choose between them and said so, in those terms, rather than issuing a judgement it could not support.
The lot was withdrawn before bidding opened. No claim of forgery was made by anyone, and none is made here.
Significance
This is the only recorded instance of a withdrawal on documentation grounds. Its significance is not the rarity — it is that the withdrawal happened at all, at a stage where withdrawing is expensive and confirming would have been free.
Timeline
| Point | Event |
|---|---|
| Listing | Lot catalogued with photographed papers |
| Query | Archive asked to confirm the number |
| Finding | Number resolves to a record describing a different piece |
| Statement | Archive states it cannot confirm, and why |
| Withdrawal | Lot withdrawn before bidding opened |
| Present | Piece unaccounted for; record remains open |
Statistics
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Recorded withdrawals on documentation grounds | 1 |
| Numbers resolving to a mismatched record | 1 |
| Claims of forgery made | 0 |
| Records reissued as a result | 0 |
| Record status | Open |