An object with a replaced handle is not simply either original or inauthentic. The replacement may be an important part of its documented use, provided the description explains what is known.
Begin with the catalogue’s wording or an authorised condition record. Identify the component and distinguish a confirmed replacement from a part that merely looks different. Colour or wear alone may not establish its age.
Make a component list with columns for material, documented date and uncertainty. The main body and a replacement can then carry separate histories without forcing one date onto the whole object.
If a repair invoice survives, link it to the specific component only as strongly as the evidence permits. A general service bill does not prove that every visible alteration happened during that visit.
Avoid attempting to remove a part to investigate it unless you have appropriate authority and expertise. This is a documentation exercise, not a conservation procedure.
A useful label might describe the object’s manufacture and then note a later documented replacement. That gives readers a richer account of continued use. It also prevents a single adjective such as “original” from concealing the mixture of material histories that many everyday objects accumulate.
Image: an editorial illustration, not a documentary photograph.