Comparative techniques are, seeing the objects first hand, expert opinions, investigation, study and the results of scientific tests may also be used, but establishing provenance is essentially a matter of documentation.

The purpose of tracing the provenance of an object or entity is to provide contextual and circumstantial evidence for its authenticity, the original production or discovery, by establishing, its history, especially the sequences of its formal ownership, custody, and/or places of storage.

Works of art are not fungible like stocks thus art appraisals require continual research. The World art market operates in an economic model that considers more than supply and demand.

It is a hybrid type of prediction market where artworks are bought and sold for values based not only on a work's perceived cultural value, but on both, its past monetary value as well as its predicted future value.

Unlike the volumes in the securities market where millions of people and firms participate in buying and selling financial interests, or the commodities market where measures of raw or primary products are exchanged using standardized contracts, art market activity largely follows the demands of a more limited array of private art collectors, museums, and large corporate interests as the principal market participants.