Provenance Information

About 1973, sold by Edward S. Merrin Gallery, New York, to Sherman Sackheim (b. 1921 – d. 2001) and Paula S. Sackheim (b. 1930 – d. 1982), Larchmont, NY [see note 1]; passed to their estate [see note 2]; by 2015, sold by the family of Sherman and Paula Sackheim to Anthropos Gallery, Los Angeles; 2015, sold by Anthropos Gallery to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2019, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)

NOTES:
[1] Undated shorthand notes on Merrin Gallery letterhead, provided by the Sackheims, describe the flute and give a sale price. A teller’s check shows that payment was made for this object, at least in part, in 1973. [2] The estate of Paula S. Sackheim first lent the flute to EPCOT Center in 1984; it remained on loan there until about 2008.

Exhibition Information

EPCOT Center, Florida, beginning in 1984 and continuing until around 2008.

Publication Information

None known.

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

Cumulative facts and circumstances

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

It is reasonable to infer that this flute was on the market by 1972, since at least partial payment was made for it in the following year, and that it was therefore outside of Mexico by the date of that country’s 1972 Federal Act on Monuments and Archaeological, Artistic and Historic Zones.

The gift was initially accepted with the belief that it was sold to the Sackheims around 1969 – 1971, and only later was the 1973 sale date discovered.

The flute has been exhibited publicly for years.