A register of Antiquities’ sales in France in the 19th century : A digital maping of collectors

The collector of works of art, original in his path, peculiar in his tastes, unique for his collection, is most often studied as a singular individual through a biography, precisely retraced. The act of collecting is nevertheless a social practice, inscribed in a network that continues to build it. In the nineteenth century, the auction house is one of those places where works circulate and where are built the multiple cross paths of anonymous or renowned collectors.
The program "Register of antiquities' sales in France in the 19th century” ", initiated in 2011 by Institut national d’histoire de l’art and the Louvre, offers a systematic study of sales of archaeological objects in Paris. Thanks to a critical analysis of sales catalogs as well as various sources of archives (including sales records drawn up by the auctioneers), a lot of information is collected on the works and their price but also on the sellers and the buyers. The enrichment of a common and accessible database makes it possible to cross the information on works, prices and people. The visualization of data makes it possible to map the fluctuations of the prices of the collected works, the movements of the works in Europe but also to identify networks of collectors.