Provenance Queenie Vassar

[estatesbyrose]

Hello and thanku in advance

I have decided to sell a few personal things of my great grand mother's Actress Queenie Vassar her husband was actor Joseph Cawthorn. I have a few items that I was one of the pay out of his estate with my name on it. I also have personal pictures of Joe & Queenie. My concern if I put a few private photo's emailed to someone they can be copied by potential buyers. Same with the trust paperwork even though the trust has been disolved. How else can I show I am queenies name sake and grand daughter. The picture includeds one of the private photo's I have restored and hand colored im a graphic artist also thiswas a Christmas present to my mum I dontwant people using it

[emerald40]

To be honest the only way I know of to absolutely prevent someone from copying your photo is to not put it on the Internet.

[rainbowcolorz]

Uh oh.  You have a puffy coat.   Beware of weird messages.  lol

[dougsue123b]

Lol, I wonder if its soft?

[dougsue123b]

I think you pretty much have to copyright it, but even then it will be copied.

[rainbowcolorz]

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@dougsue123b wrote:

Lol, I wonder if its soft?

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LOL!!!!!!

[retrose1]

OP, I hate to say this, but I don't think you have anything wo be worried about.

I love silent movies and have never heard of Queenie and had to look her up.  I think that will be the reception you get for your items, no matter what they are, or if you prove they are legit.  Years ago, I picked up a huge box of movie scrapbooks and memorbilia that was collected in the 30s/40s/50s.  The woman wrote to stars back in the day and developed a friendship with a B actress and there are hundreds of letters, photos and other interesting things that no one wanted or bid on (even at $9.99 opening bid for the lot) because no one knows who the actress is anymore.  With the exception of Cary Grant's autograph, which the actress got for her as a Christmas present, the entire box is sitting in storage.

Unless an actress has a cult following or has some historic event attached to them, the farther way from their career you get, the less collectable - and valuable, their items are.  You might want to check into a museum, one that specializes in Broadway, and see if they might be interested in making an offer.

[lauralemur]

Hi there - lovely image and restoration/colorization!  When emailing or posting images I think a combo of pervasive watermarking and formatting in low resolution may be a deterrant.  Odd/sectional cropping of images may not help a sale (doesn't look nice in a listing) but may also limit someone's interest in copying.  Auction houses, galleries, or buyers of high value items may want to authenticate the provenance, but for low or moderately priced items it may be enough to state your family connection without having to show "proof" via a copy of the trust.  If a buyer asks for evidence, I would only share the portion of trust that lists you as a recipient - even then, you may want to contact a lawyer first for legal advice about sharing the details of a trust/will with others.  Getting really technical, copyright on old photos is a tricky thing, a relevant link  -   https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2012/03/06/copyright-and-the-old-family-photo/  - significantly altered images (not just restoration, but creating a "new" work) may possibly qualify for copyright, but I am not sure where colorization falls in the mix.  If you plan to sell many copies of your work you may want to research it further, if you are only selling a few things and want to back up your family link then the tricks I mentioned above may limit (but not prevent) interest in copying what you share.