Editing Found object (section)

=== Antecedents ===
{{seealso|Manuport}}
[[File:Alphonse Allais.jpg|thumb|Alphonse Allais, ''Des souteneurs encore dans la force de l'âge et le ventre dans l'herbe boivent de l'absinthe'', carriage curtain, before 1897.]]

One curator considers East Asian [[scholar's rock]]s to be early examples of found objects. Found and collected in natural settings, the rocks are changed only minimally for display, seldom beyond the addition of a display stand, and are meant to be contemplated as idealized representations of nature. Geological processes, chief among them [[erosion]], give the rocks their distinctive qualities, rather than any modification by an artist or artisan.<ref>{{cite journal|author-last=Dodson|author-first=Donna|title=Interpreting the natural: contemporary visions of scholars' rocks.|journal=Creative Arts in Education and Therapy |volume=7|issue=1|date=August 2021|pages=11–13|doi=10.15212/CAET/2021/7/1|s2cid=238719901 |quote=They embody the original impulse to elevate a found object to fine art status, not unlike a "readymade," where a commonplace artifact is viewed as art.|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2017–2018, the French expert {{ill|Johann Naldi|fr}} found and identified seventeen unpublished works in a private collection, classified as a national treasure on May 7, 2021, by the French Ministry of Culture,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Philippe |first=Dagen |date=May 10, 2021 |title=Dix-neuf œuvres des Arts incohérents classées trésor national |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/05/10/dix-neuf-uvres-des-arts-incoherents-classees-tresor-national_6079757_3246.html |journal=Le Monde}}</ref> including ''Des souteneurs encore dans la force de l'âge et le ventre dans l'herbe'' by Alphonse Allais'','' consisting of a green carriage curtain suspended from a wooden cylinder.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Philippe |first=Dagen |date=February 3, 2021 |title=17 œuvres des Arts incohérents : un trésor redécouvert dans une malle |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/02/03/dans-une-malle-17-uvres-parodiques-des-arts-incoherents-redecouvertes_6068592_3246.html |journal=Le Monde}}</ref> This work was certainly exhibited at the [[Incoherents]] exhibitions in Paris between 1883 and 1893. According to Johann Naldi, this work is the oldest known readymade and was a source of inspiration for Marcel Duchamp.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johann |first=Naldi |title=Arts incohérents, discoveries and new perspectives |publisher=Lienart |date=April 2022 |isbn=978-2-35906-366-0 |location=Paris |pages=164–183}}</ref>