Custodianship
Custodianship
Custodianship describes the recorded relation between a Guardian, an attributed work and, where separately confirmed, a position within one of the Maison’s registers.
It is maintained through formal attribution, documentation and continuity. Possession alone does not establish the full custodial relation preserved by the Maison.
Attribution, record and continuity
The Work
Formal attribution establishes the Guardian as the recorded custodian of the relevant composition and issuance position.
The Relation
The Maison maintains the identity, date and archival context of the confirmed custodial relation.
The Line
Where recognised, the record may preserve an authorised family, succession or institutional continuity over time.
Custodianship of a work and of a seat
A recorded composition
When a composition is formally attributed, its Guardian enters the custodial record attached to that work and issuance.
A separate formal position
Custodianship of a Geneva Register seat exists only after the seat has been separately confirmed and formally inscribed.
The attribution of a composition does not automatically confer a Geneva Register seat. An established custodianship history may, where recognised by the Maison, form a basis for separate seat consideration.
Custodianship across the Registers
A sealed historical position
Each of the five hundred positions retains its original Guardian number while its attributed corpus and recognised continuity remain maintained beneath that number.
A contemporary formal seat
Contemporary issuances belong to the Geneva Register era, while each of its two hundred seats remains a separately confirmed formal position.
Continuity across generations
A custodial relation may continue through a recognised family, succession or institutional line where that continuity is confirmed and entered within the relevant record of the Maison.
Recognition preserves the continuity of the existing record. It does not create a new position or an automatic right to future attribution.
The form, authority and extent of a continuity record remain private.
Institutional presentation
In selected circumstances, a Guardian may be invited to participate in an institutional presentation, archival loan or contextual placement connected to a work under their custodianship.
Any such participation is considered separately according to context, conservation, discretion and the level of confidentiality required.
Documentation maintained by the Maison
Confirmations, archival extracts and continuity references may be issued where appropriate to a recorded Guardian, an authorised family representative or another relation recognised within the record.
Private custodial correspondence
Matters concerning an existing attribution, custodial record or recognised continuity are received through Private Correspondence. Receipt of correspondence does not itself confer access or authority.
Private Correspondence