Since 2014, Abad has been interested in the auction as a site for excavating these narratives and the auction catalogue as a document where the private histories of public personages are laid bare. The three red-ground cloisonne vases depicted in the triptych work Notes on Decomposition (Lot 157) are from Margaret Thatcher collection of personal effects, auctioned off by Christie’s in 2019. These artefacts were presented to the former British Prime Minister by Dr. Tze-chi Chao, President of the World League of Freedom & Democracy, Republic of China chapter.