{"id":"linked-art/api/provenance-activities","relativePath":"linked-art/api/provenance-activities.md","title":"Linked Art API: Provenance Activities","markdown":"# Linked Art API: Provenance Activities\n\n**Last refreshed:** 2026-07-06\n\nSource: [Provenance Activities endpoint](https://linked.art/api/1.0/endpoint/provenance_activity/), part of Linked Art API 1.0, published under [CC BY 4.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is a project summary; the upstream page is authoritative.\n\n## Purpose\n\nThe Provenance Activity endpoint describes higher-level provenance entries and the detailed changes that make them up. It is more complex than most entity endpoints because a top-level `Activity` or `Event` carries shared event metadata and then uses required `part[]` entries for specific transfers, payments, moves, encounters, rights changes, and related actions.\n\n## Required Top-Level Shape\n\nA Provenance Activity endpoint record dereferences to one JSON-LD object:\n\n- `@context`: Linked Art context URI, or an array ending with that URI for extensions.\n- `id`: dereferenceable HTTP(S) URI for the provenance activity.\n- `type`: `Event` or `Activity`.\n- `classified_as`: must include `http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863` for Provenance Activity.\n- `part`: required array of detailed provenance part activities.\n\n## Recommended Top-Level Fields\n\n- `_label`: developer-facing label.\n- `identified_by`: `Name` and/or `Identifier` structures.\n- `timespan`: `TimeSpan` structure recording when the provenance activity occurred.\n\n## Optional Top-Level Fields\n\n- `referred_to_by`: statements about the activity.\n- `equivalent`: external identities.\n- `representation`: visual works representing the activity.\n- `member_of`: sets that include the activity.\n- `subject_of`: textual works focused on the activity.\n- `attributed_by`: relationship assignment evidence.\n- `part_of`: broader event or activity.\n- `during`, `before`, `after`: temporal relationships.\n- `took_place_at`: places where the activity occurred.\n- `caused_by`: event that caused the activity.\n- `influenced_by`: entity that influenced the activity.\n- `carried_out_by`: person or group responsible for the activity.\n- `participant`: person or group that participated but did not carry it out.\n- `used_specific_object`: object or set instrumental in the activity.\n\n## Common Part Fields\n\nEvery entry in `part[]` has its own activity type and can carry:\n\n- `id`\n- `type`\n- `_label`\n- `identified_by`\n- `classified_as`\n- `referred_to_by`\n- `timespan`\n- `during`\n- `took_place_at`\n- `influenced_by`\n- `carried_out_by`\n- `participant`\n- `used_specific_object`\n\n## Provenance Part Types\n\n### Acquisition\n\n- `type`: `Acquisition`.\n- `transferred_title_of`: required object(s).\n- `transferred_title_from`: previous person or group owner(s).\n- `transferred_title_to`: new person or group owner(s).\n\n### Payment\n\n- `type`: `Payment`.\n- `paid_amount`: `MonetaryAmount`, including value and currency when known.\n- `paid_from`: person or group providing payment.\n- `paid_to`: person or group receiving payment.\n\n### Transfer Of Custody\n\n- `type`: `TransferOfCustody`.\n- `transferred_custody_of`: required object(s).\n- `transferred_custody_from`: previous custodian(s).\n- `transferred_custody_to`: new custodian(s).\n\n### Encounter\n\n- `type`: `Encounter`.\n- `encountered`: required object(s) encountered.\n\n### Right Acquisition\n\n- `type`: `RightAcquisition`.\n- `establishes`: required `Right` structures.\n- `invalidates`: optional `Right` structures.\n\n### Move\n\n- `type`: `Move`.\n- `moved`: required object(s).\n- `moved_from`: origin `Place`.\n- `moved_to`: destination `Place`.\n\n### Promise\n\n- `type`: `Activity`.\n- `classified_as`: must include `http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435599` to distinguish the activity as a promise.\n\n### Transfer\n\n- `type`: `Transfer`.\n- `transferred`: required object(s).\n- `transferred_from`: person or group from whom the object was transferred.\n- `transferred_to`: person or group to whom the object was transferred.\n\n## Right Structure\n\nRights in provenance activities use:\n\n- `id`\n- `type`: `Right`.\n- `_label`\n- `identified_by`\n- `classified_as`\n- `referred_to_by`\n- `dimension`\n- `possessed_by`\n- `applies_to`\n- `part`\n\n## Incoming Relationships\n\nThe current Linked Art API set does not define incoming references to Provenance Activities. Instead, provenance activities link outward to objects, people, groups, places, rights, payments, and sets.\n\n## Meta Museum Notes\n\nMeta Museum already preserves provenance wrappers and bundled `part[]` activities in ActivityStreams projections and record fixtures. Existing coverage includes `Acquisition`, `Payment`, `TransferOfCustody`, `Encounter`, `RightAcquisition`, `Move`, `Transfer`, promise activities, `Right` structures, ownership and custody transfers, movement origins/destinations, auction lot sets, commission/service payment details, unknown-transfer evidence, and rights establishment/invalidation. The strict ActivityStreams `Delete` lane remains separate: semantic provenance or destruction activity is not a tombstone unless a real upstream `404`/`410` deletion exists.\n\nMeta Museum also exposes `/api/provenance` as a provenance-specialized Search API surface over stored record provenance wrappers. It returns Linked Art JSON-LD `OrderedCollectionPage` responses and supports `kind=acquisition`, `kind=custody`, `kind=transfer`, `kind=move`, and `kind=right-acquisition`, with optional `object=` filtering. Each result keeps the wrapper activity, the matching `part[]` entries, and the source object summary separate, so ownership transfer, custody, indeterminate transfer, movement, and rights acquisition remain queryable without collapsing back into a generic related-event bucket.\n\n## Test Ideas\n\n- Preserve a top-level provenance `Activity` with `classified_as` AAT `300055863` and multiple `part[]` entries.\n- Preserve each part type with its required object/right fields.\n- Verify `Payment.paid_amount.currency` uses a `Currency` concept.\n- Verify `Move.moved_from` and `Move.moved_to` are `Place` references.\n- Preserve `RightAcquisition.establishes` and `invalidates` as `Right` structures with `possessed_by` and `applies_to`.\n- Keep indeterminate `Transfer` separate from `Acquisition` and `TransferOfCustody` when evidence does not prove title or custody transfer.\n- Assert `/api/provenance` preserves the same distinctions at search time, including `provenanceKind`, `conforms_to`, `partOf`, and `la:provenanceProfile` metadata.\n","sections":[{"level":2,"heading":"Purpose","anchor":"purpose"},{"level":2,"heading":"Required Top-Level Shape","anchor":"required-top-level-shape"},{"level":2,"heading":"Recommended Top-Level Fields","anchor":"recommended-top-level-fields"},{"level":2,"heading":"Optional Top-Level Fields","anchor":"optional-top-level-fields"},{"level":2,"heading":"Common Part Fields","anchor":"common-part-fields"},{"level":2,"heading":"Provenance Part Types","anchor":"provenance-part-types"},{"level":3,"heading":"Acquisition","anchor":"acquisition"},{"level":3,"heading":"Payment","anchor":"payment"},{"level":3,"heading":"Transfer Of Custody","anchor":"transfer-of-custody"},{"level":3,"heading":"Encounter","anchor":"encounter"},{"level":3,"heading":"Right Acquisition","anchor":"right-acquisition"},{"level":3,"heading":"Move","anchor":"move"},{"level":3,"heading":"Promise","anchor":"promise"},{"level":3,"heading":"Transfer","anchor":"transfer"},{"level":2,"heading":"Right Structure","anchor":"right-structure"},{"level":2,"heading":"Incoming Relationships","anchor":"incoming-relationships"},{"level":2,"heading":"Meta Museum Notes","anchor":"meta-museum-notes"},{"level":2,"heading":"Test Ideas","anchor":"test-ideas"}],"html":"<h1 id=\"linked-art-api-provenance-activities\">Linked Art API: Provenance Activities</h1>\n<p><strong>Last refreshed:</strong> 2026-07-06</p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https://linked.art/api/1.0/endpoint/provenance_activity/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"doc-link\">Provenance Activities endpoint</a>, part of Linked Art API 1.0, published under <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" class=\"doc-link\">CC BY 4.0</a>. This is a project summary; the upstream page is authoritative.</p>\n<h2 id=\"purpose\">Purpose</h2>\n<p>The Provenance Activity endpoint describes higher-level provenance entries and the detailed changes that make them up. It is more complex than most entity endpoints because a top-level `Activity` or `Event` carries shared event metadata and then uses required `part[]` entries for specific transfers, payments, moves, encounters, rights changes, and related actions.</p>\n<h2 id=\"required-top-level-shape\">Required Top-Level Shape</h2>\n<p>A Provenance Activity endpoint record dereferences to one JSON-LD object:</p>\n<ul><li>`@context`: Linked Art context URI, or an array ending with that URI for extensions.</li><li>`id`: dereferenceable HTTP(S) URI for the provenance activity.</li><li>`type`: `Event` or `Activity`.</li><li>`classified_as`: must include `http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300055863` for Provenance Activity.</li><li>`part`: required array of detailed provenance part activities.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"recommended-top-level-fields\">Recommended Top-Level Fields</h2>\n<ul><li>`_label`: developer-facing label.</li><li>`identified_by`: `Name` and/or `Identifier` structures.</li><li>`timespan`: `TimeSpan` structure recording when the provenance activity occurred.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"optional-top-level-fields\">Optional Top-Level Fields</h2>\n<ul><li>`referred_to_by`: statements about the activity.</li><li>`equivalent`: external identities.</li><li>`representation`: visual works representing the activity.</li><li>`member_of`: sets that include the activity.</li><li>`subject_of`: textual works focused on the activity.</li><li>`attributed_by`: relationship assignment evidence.</li><li>`part_of`: broader event or activity.</li><li>`during`, `before`, `after`: temporal relationships.</li><li>`took_place_at`: places where the activity occurred.</li><li>`caused_by`: event that caused the activity.</li><li>`influenced_by`: entity that influenced the activity.</li><li>`carried_out_by`: person or group responsible for the activity.</li><li>`participant`: person or group that participated but did not carry it out.</li><li>`used_specific_object`: object or set instrumental in the activity.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"common-part-fields\">Common Part Fields</h2>\n<p>Every entry in `part[]` has its own activity type and can carry:</p>\n<ul><li>`id`</li><li>`type`</li><li>`_label`</li><li>`identified_by`</li><li>`classified_as`</li><li>`referred_to_by`</li><li>`timespan`</li><li>`during`</li><li>`took_place_at`</li><li>`influenced_by`</li><li>`carried_out_by`</li><li>`participant`</li><li>`used_specific_object`</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"provenance-part-types\">Provenance Part Types</h2>\n<h3 id=\"acquisition\">Acquisition</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Acquisition`.</li><li>`transferred_title_of`: required object(s).</li><li>`transferred_title_from`: previous person or group owner(s).</li><li>`transferred_title_to`: new person or group owner(s).</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"payment\">Payment</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Payment`.</li><li>`paid_amount`: `MonetaryAmount`, including value and currency when known.</li><li>`paid_from`: person or group providing payment.</li><li>`paid_to`: person or group receiving payment.</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"transfer-of-custody\">Transfer Of Custody</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `TransferOfCustody`.</li><li>`transferred_custody_of`: required object(s).</li><li>`transferred_custody_from`: previous custodian(s).</li><li>`transferred_custody_to`: new custodian(s).</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"encounter\">Encounter</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Encounter`.</li><li>`encountered`: required object(s) encountered.</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"right-acquisition\">Right Acquisition</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `RightAcquisition`.</li><li>`establishes`: required `Right` structures.</li><li>`invalidates`: optional `Right` structures.</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"move\">Move</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Move`.</li><li>`moved`: required object(s).</li><li>`moved_from`: origin `Place`.</li><li>`moved_to`: destination `Place`.</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"promise\">Promise</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Activity`.</li><li>`classified_as`: must include `http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300435599` to distinguish the activity as a promise.</li></ul>\n<h3 id=\"transfer\">Transfer</h3>\n<ul><li>`type`: `Transfer`.</li><li>`transferred`: required object(s).</li><li>`transferred_from`: person or group from whom the object was transferred.</li><li>`transferred_to`: person or group to whom the object was transferred.</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"right-structure\">Right Structure</h2>\n<p>Rights in provenance activities use:</p>\n<ul><li>`id`</li><li>`type`: `Right`.</li><li>`_label`</li><li>`identified_by`</li><li>`classified_as`</li><li>`referred_to_by`</li><li>`dimension`</li><li>`possessed_by`</li><li>`applies_to`</li><li>`part`</li></ul>\n<h2 id=\"incoming-relationships\">Incoming Relationships</h2>\n<p>The current Linked Art API set does not define incoming references to Provenance Activities. Instead, provenance activities link outward to objects, people, groups, places, rights, payments, and sets.</p>\n<h2 id=\"meta-museum-notes\">Meta Museum Notes</h2>\n<p>Meta Museum already preserves provenance wrappers and bundled `part[]` activities in ActivityStreams projections and record fixtures. Existing coverage includes `Acquisition`, `Payment`, `TransferOfCustody`, `Encounter`, `RightAcquisition`, `Move`, `Transfer`, promise activities, `Right` structures, ownership and custody transfers, movement origins/destinations, auction lot sets, commission/service payment details, unknown-transfer evidence, and rights establishment/invalidation. The strict ActivityStreams `Delete` lane remains separate: semantic provenance or destruction activity is not a tombstone unless a real upstream `404`/`410` deletion exists.</p>\n<p>Meta Museum also exposes `/api/provenance` as a provenance-specialized Search API surface over stored record provenance wrappers. It returns Linked Art JSON-LD `OrderedCollectionPage` responses and supports `kind=acquisition`, `kind=custody`, `kind=transfer`, `kind=move`, and `kind=right-acquisition`, with optional `object=` filtering. Each result keeps the wrapper activity, the matching `part[]` entries, and the source object summary separate, so ownership transfer, custody, indeterminate transfer, movement, and rights acquisition remain queryable without collapsing back into a generic related-event bucket.</p>\n<h2 id=\"test-ideas\">Test Ideas</h2>\n<ul><li>Preserve a top-level provenance `Activity` with `classified_as` AAT `300055863` and multiple `part[]` entries.</li><li>Preserve each part type with its required object/right fields.</li><li>Verify `Payment.paid_amount.currency` uses a `Currency` concept.</li><li>Verify `Move.moved_from` and `Move.moved_to` are `Place` references.</li><li>Preserve `RightAcquisition.establishes` and `invalidates` as `Right` structures with `possessed_by` and `applies_to`.</li><li>Keep indeterminate `Transfer` separate from `Acquisition` and `TransferOfCustody` when evidence does not prove title or custody transfer.</li><li>Assert `/api/provenance` preserves the same distinctions at search time, including `provenanceKind`, `conforms_to`, `partOf`, and `la:provenanceProfile` metadata.</li></ul>","updatedAt":"2026-07-06T00:00:00.000Z","checksum":"565a129b40743e94cc18a1eef1e88df10cea0011a294621c376d3883fbadce9d","checksumPrefix":"565a129b4074","anchorCount":18,"lineCount":149,"rawUrl":"/api/docs/content?path=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fprovenance-activities.md","htmlUrl":"/docs?doc=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fprovenance-activities.md","apiUrl":"/api/docs/content?path=linked-art%2Fapi%2Fprovenance-activities.md"}