Provenance, what is it worth?

[David]

Originally Posted by Swordfish

These examples demonstrate again, a good provenance may be helpful, but in no case replaces close examination of the items and sufficient own knowledge.

Forgive me Swordfish, but this seems so obvious as to hardly be worth mentioning. The bottom line is that for the most part, people who can throw 40 or 50,000 euro at items sight unseen based on auction descriptions are usually not real collectors at all, they are investors. Of course provenance is no substitute for accumulated knowledge and hands-on inspection. You don't buy the story, you buy the item, something any seasoned collector understands. And lack of knowledge is not the same as stupidity and i see no positive side to accusing collectors who make mistakes in judgement as being stupid.