Object Title
Crocodile effigy incense burner
Measurements
52.2 × 31.8 × 31.4 cm
Creation Date
AD 450–550
Credit Line
Gift of Timothy Phillips in honor of Dennis Carr
Museum Name
Culture
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.mfa.org/objects/609300/crocodile-effigy-incense-burner
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Before 1550
Provenance Information
1960s, acquired in Panama by Dr. Edward Howell (b. 1926 – d. 1998), Danville, PA [see note]; by inheritance to his widow, Jacqueline Howell, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Mrs. Howell to M. S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans; 2013, sold by Rau Antiques to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2019, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)
NOTE: According to a signed and notarized statement from Dr. Howell’s widow (February 18, 2013). Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru. He formed much of his Pre-Columbian collection at that time. Panama, where he is believed to have acquired this piece, was the primary refueling stop between the U.S. and Peru.
NOTE: According to a signed and notarized statement from Dr. Howell’s widow (February 18, 2013). Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru. He formed much of his Pre-Columbian collection at that time. Panama, where he is believed to have acquired this piece, was the primary refueling stop between the U.S. and Peru.
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
According to a signed and notarized affidavit, this was acquired in the 1960s, when Dr. Edward Howell was traveling and building his collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts. Dr. Howell served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the early 1960s, at which time he was stationed in Peru.