At least ¼ of all missing art, artifacts and archives go underreported. 

Every year many Historical Societies, Libraries, Museums and Private Collections discover that items in their collection have gone missing. This can be attributed to any number of reasons, from items simply being misplaced or inadequate record keeping to, in the worst-case scenario, the item being stolen.

Many archivists, registrars, collection managers, curators and collectors fail to report missing items even when they are discovered missing. Reasons for this vary, but clients have cited feelings of embarrassment and of providing lax stewardship and security leading to the effect of donor hesitancy.

Our investigations are held in the strictest confidence

In this context, “Museum Taphonomy”[1] can be described as the process by which collections disappear. Inventory policy, audits, accession & deaccession policies, collection documentation and accountability through a reliable collection management system and security policy, all affect the safety and accessibility of your collections.

Although only about 10% of missing property is ever recovered, Emerald Art Services LLC investigations can assess the factors which led to the disappearance and can assist in developing an action plan to hinder future occurrences.

Emerald Art Services LLC is a licensed private investigation and guard services firm in the State of Ohio (Lic. 20232100508790)

[1] Steven Lubar, Lukas Rieppel, Ann Daly & Kathrinne Duffy (2017) Lost Museums, Museum History Journal, 10:1, 1-14, DOI: 10.1080/19369816.2016.1259330