Overview:
The Goupil Stock Books Project, conducted at the Getty Research Institute, documents over 31,000 works of art that passed through the Goupil & Cie network of galleries between 1846 and 1919. These stock books record detailed transactional information, including artists, buyers, prices, and locations, and are a critical resource for understanding the circulation of art in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Purpose of Our Work:
Takin.solutions supported the integration of the Goupil Stockbooks dataset into the Getty Provenance Index (Reindex Project) by providing conceptual modelling, semantic documentation, and the design of an ETL process. Our work focused on translating the original stock book data and structure into a standardized, semantically-informed schema suitable for ingestion into the Provenance Index.
Methodology:
Using the Zellij platform, we:
- Documented the source fields and their semantic mappings to the Provenance Index data model
- Captured conceptual structures underlying transactions, agents, and artworks
- Designed an ETL workflow to transform the stock book data into a format compatible with the Provenance Index, maintaining provenance integrity and historical context
Outcome:
- A semantically documented, standardized representation of the Goupil Stockbooks dataset
- An operational ETL process for integration into the Provenance Index
- Enhanced accessibility and interoperability of Goupil provenance data for research and analysis
Takin’s Role:
Takin.solutions applied the Semantic Reference Data Modelling (SRDM) methodology to guide the conceptual modelling, semantic documentation, and ETL design for the project.
