21. March 2022

Beijing-based art collector Tong Bingxue today voiced his concerns on Twitter over the authenticity of a piece currently on auction at Sotheby's. We love ourselves a good old China mystery (especially when it possibly is around false advertising) and were quickly able to not only confirm suspicions over the provenance of "the earliest known dated photograph by a Chinese photographer" but uncover a shocking lack of research and fact-checking across reputable auction houses such as Christie's,...

28. September 2020

From the middle of the 19th century, preventing dangerous diseases caused by polluted water, such as typhus or cholera, was a great concern to many people, not only in Vienna. Only few households had a guaranteed supply of clean water. One was in danger despite or perhaps especially because of having an own well. The pollution increased as the population grew and the first supply networks did not suffice in the least. In 1873, the first spring water line supplied pure water to many Viennese...

20. July 2020