Provenance Information

Private collection, Belgium, possibly by the late 1950s; purchased by Samuel Pascasio, New York, by the early 1970s; [Alphonse Jax, New York], by the early 1970s; purchased by Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington, May 27, 2000

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

None known

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Informed judgement that works were outside of the country of modern discovery before 1970

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Based on the results of provenance research, as well as cumulative facts and circumstances, this Aztec seated figure was outside its probable country of modern discovery (Mexico) by 1970. Per email correspondence with previous owner Alphonse Jax, the piece was purchased from Samuel Pascasio, who Jax remembers having documents confirming its placement in a private Belgian collection by the late 1950s. While there is no documentation to corroborate, photographs of the work received from Jax bear labels on their verso that indicate they were taken in Belgium. Further provenance research will be ongoing, but the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) can conclude, based on the aforementioned facts, that the work was likely in Belgium before 1970. This work cleared a search conducted by the Art Loss Register. SAM has in its collection a smaller example of an Aztec standing figure, representing a priest-follower of the god Tlaloc (god of fertility). Exhibited together, these works provide an opportunity to present visual components of complex Aztec cosmology and a range of stylistic variables in this art form.