>It seems to me that you can borrow artifacts from any owner >if they meet the needs and mission of your museum. The only >danger I see in the course you describe is that the shops >might use the museum to inflate the value of the piece by >saying "It was on exhibit at X museum." We have borrowed >specific pieces from antique dealers when they were needed >in exhibits, but we don't make a regular practice out of it. > I'll be interested to see if others have the same reaction. > >Chris Dill Exactly the same reaction. The problem of a dealer using museum "provenance" to inflate the value of an object or work of art is a tricky one, similar to letting a potential donor "use" a museum for free, secure storage of loans in hopes that he/she will eventually donate something more desired for the collection. Presence in a museum implies to most people that an object/work of art is of "museum quality." I think Andy's answer was very much to the point. ------------------------------------- amalyah keshet director, visual resources, the israel museum, jerusalem e-mail: [log in to unmask] date: 12/03/96 visit our web site at http://www.imj.org.il -------------------------------------