· Jiko Art
Glossary: art auctions, patronage, and solidarity
Canonical definitions for the terms most used on Jiko Art and more broadly across the solidarity art market.
- Descending auction (Dutch auction)
- An auction in which the price starts at a high amount and decreases at regular intervals until a buyer accepts the current price or the price reaches a predefined floor. The first buyer to accept wins the lot.
- Ascending auction (English auction)
- The classic auction format in which buyers successively outbid each other and the price rises. The highest bidder at closing time wins the lot.
- Start price
- The initial price of a descending auction, set by the seller. It represents the ceiling of the auction.
- Floor price
- The minimum price of a descending auction. If no buyer accepts before this threshold, the auction closes without a sale.
- Decrease rate
- The amount or percentage by which the price drops at each step in a descending auction.
- Decrease interval
- How often the price drops in a descending auction (minutes, hours, days).
- Sniping
- Placing a bid in the last seconds of an ascending auction so other bidders have no time to react. The descending-auction format eliminates this behaviour.
- Patron / mécène
- An individual or company providing financial or material support to a cause, artist, or artwork. On Jiko Art, buyers are called patrons because every purchase supports both the artist and an NGO.
- Patronage / mécénat
- Act of financial or material support for a cause of general interest, with no commercial counterpart. In France, qualifying patronage opens a right to tax reduction.
- NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation)
- A nonprofit organisation, independent from governments, pursuing a public-interest mission (humanitarian, environmental, educational, cultural).
- Association of general interest
- In France, a 1901-law association whose activity is philanthropic, educational, scientific, social, humanitarian, or cultural, and which can receive donations qualifying for a tax reduction.
- Foundation
- An irrevocable allocation of assets, rights, or resources to the realisation of a public-interest work. Distinct from an association by its dedicated endowment.
- Provenance certificate
- A document that establishes the origin, authorship, and ownership history of an artwork. Serves as proof of authenticity in any resale.
- SHA-256 hash
- A 256-bit cryptographic fingerprint produced by the SHA-256 algorithm. Proves that a file or set of data has not been modified: any alteration produces a different hash.
- NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
- A unique digital token registered on a public blockchain, used to represent ownership of a digital or physical asset. Distinct from a plain cryptographic certificate: an NFT is transferable and subject to network fees (gas fees).
- Append-only registry
- A database in which records are never modified or deleted after creation. Guarantees the historical integrity of the data — used by Jiko Art to store provenance certificates.
- Original artwork
- An artwork hand-made by the artist, as opposed to an industrial reproduction. A signed, numbered limited edition can also count as an original artwork.
- Limited edition
- A series of copies of the same artwork, numbered and limited in count (e.g. 1/30, 2/30, etc.). Each print is signed by the artist.
- Commissaire-priseur (auctioneer, France)
- A ministerial officer or licensed operator entitled to organise and conduct public auctions in France.
- Clock auction
- A descending auction in which a clock hand sweeps down a dial showing the price. The first person to press their button wins the lot at the displayed price. Historically used for fish, flowers, and produce.
- Gas fees
- Transaction fees paid in cryptocurrency to execute an operation on a public blockchain (minting an NFT, transferring it, etc.). The amount varies with network congestion.
- Traceability
- The ability to reconstruct the complete journey of an artwork or a donation, from its origin to its current recipient.