Mattereum has today announced the acquisition of three rare cultural artefacts that will be vaulted, passported and tokenized using the Mattereum Protocol:
- A 350,000 year-old stone hand axe excavated in France.
- A signed and numbered etching by iconic modern master Salvador Dalí.
- A 19th-20th century votive bronze statuette of the Buddhist protector deity Acala.
These objects were selected to represent a broad range of pieces that make up the diverse and extensive $60 billion art and antiquities trade. Their onboarding through the Mattereum Protocol will demonstrate how new technologies can revolutionize this lucrative market by securely documenting, verifying, and vaulting precious objects through the blockchain.
The process will begin with the Mattereum Asset Passport, a comprehensive identity and provenance record of the object, with each person providing information taking legal responsibility for that information’s accuracy. This establishes a secure record of provenance with warranties and dispute resolution built in.
A major aspect of the Asset Passport is the use of Trust Communities which enable decentralized and independent assessments of an object’s authenticity, provenance, and condition. This allows for a broader range of expert perspectives beyond the art and antiquities firms that currently dominate the market, generating greater trust among traders.
Each object will furthermore be tokenized through a Real World Asset NFT, a unique token that denotes the right to take physical custody of the actual object, backed by the warranties and legal enforceability provided by the Asset Passport.’
The authentication and built-in legal guarantees provided by the Mattereum Protocol will not only prove a potent tool in combating fraud and creating a more sustainable and secure business model in the fine art and antiquities trade, but also ensure that each object that passes through it will remain connected to its history and its true value.
Dr James Hester, Mattereum’s Head of Ontology and former Tower of London curator said:
“The art and antiquities trade has always been cautious about adopting new technologies too quickly. While there has been interest in the Mattereum Asset Passport among art dealers and galleries, there is also a reluctance to be the first over the top. Onboarding these artefacts will show that the process differs very little from existing documenting procedures. The main differences are that this information will now be stored in the permanent, immutable blockchain, and that the object’s corresponding NFT allows an unprecedented level of liquidity of stock. Furthermore, as Certifiers of information in the Asset Passport, they generate an ongoing income in exchange for warranting that information long after the piece has left their shop.”
These NFTs with Mattereum Asset Passports can be viewed at the following links:
- NFT of Tibetan Statue of Acala | corresponding Mattereum Asset Passport
- NFT of Signed Dalí Etching | corresponding Mattereum Asset Passport
- NFT of Prehistoric Hand Axe | corresponding Mattereum Asset Passport
Or via Mattereum’s collection on OpenSea .
Dr Hester added:
“I love the idea of humanity’s oldest tool being brought to prominence by one of humanity’s latest, most cutting edge tools.”
