Certificate of authenticity and signature

A certificate of authenticity sounds serious, and for that reason it gets misused — a seller of reproductions can also attach an ornate sheet with a stamp. The value lies not in the document itself but in what it states and who signed it.

What should a certificate contain?

Six things, and the absence of any one of them should give you pause. The title of the work. The year it was made. The medium and support — "oil on canvas", say, rather than simply "painting". Exact dimensions in centimetres. A clear statement of whether this is an original, a single piece, or a print from a stated edition. And the artist's signature — handwritten, not printed.

A certificate issued by anyone other than the artist or the gallery that sold the work tells you nothing. There is no authority anywhere that certifies the authenticity of contemporary paintings.

Where does an artist sign a painting?

Conventionally in the lower right corner on the face of the work, but this is not a rule — a signature goes wherever it does not interfere with the composition. What matters more is the material: a signature on an original is made with the same medium as the work and sits on its surface, so seen at an angle it catches light differently from the ground beneath.

The back usually carries more: title, year, sometimes dimensions and technical notes. With a painting on canvas it is worth looking there before the work goes into a frame — afterwards it becomes harder.

What does it give the buyer?

Three practical things. For home insurance, the certificate is evidence of the work's value. In any future resale it forms part of the painting's history and affects the price. And in conservation, knowing the medium and the year tells the conservator what they are dealing with — fresh oil is handled differently from a decade-old watercolour.

How I handle it

I sign every original work and issue a certificate with the details listed above. Giclée prints are marked separately — described as prints, with the edition stated, and never sold as originals.

The remaining terms — shipping, returns and the option to see a work before deciding — are set out on the How to buy page.