Provenance Information

Ex coll. Dr. John R. McLaren (1922-2005), Decatur, Georgia, purchased from Paul Clifford (1915-2003), North Carolina, 1982-1983.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 160-61, figure 386.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 75.
Laura M. Wingfield, "Greenstone Axe to Gold Eagle Pendant: The Sex Change of Costa Rica's Symbol of National Pride," in Dressing the Part: Power, Dress, Gender, and Representation in the Pre-Columbian Americas, ed. Sarahh E.M. Scher and Billie J.A. Follensbee (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017), 326, figure 9.1.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Gifted to museum in 1999.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. Dr. John R. McLaren (1922-2005), Decatur, Georgia, purchased from Paul Clifford (1915-2003), North Carolina, 1982-1983.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - March 18, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 160-61, figure 387.
Laura M. Wingfield, "Greenstone Axe to Gold Eagle Pendant: The Sex Change of Costa Rica's Symbol of National Pride," in Dressing the Part: Power, Dress, Gender, and Representation in the Pre-Columbian Americas, ed. Sarahh E.M. Scher and Billie J.A. Follensbee (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017), 326, figure 9.1.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Gifted to museum in 1999.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. Laurence (1926-1995) and Cora (1931-2023) Witten, United States, possibly purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, ca. 1960-1985.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - February 6, 2017
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, February 13, 2017 - March 13, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present

Publication Information

To our knowledge, this object has never been published.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Gifted to museum in 1992.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased 1968.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 160-61, figure 388.
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 144, figure 6.17.
Laura M. Wingfield, "Greenstone Axe to Gold Eagle Pendant: The Sex Change of Costa Rica's Symbol of National Pride," in Dressing the Part: Power, Dress, Gender, and Representation in the Pre-Columbian Americas, ed. Sarahh E.M. Scher and Billie J.A. Follensbee (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017), 326, figure 9.1.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Acquired by museum in 1991.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, November 1983.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - March 18, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 160-61, figure 385.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 75.
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 144, figure 6.18.
Laura M. Wingfield, "Greenstone Axe to Gold Eagle Pendant: The Sex Change of Costa Rica's Symbol of National Pride," in Dressing the Part: Power, Dress, Gender, and Representation in the Pre-Columbian Americas, ed. Sarahh E.M. Scher and Billie J.A. Follensbee (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017), 326, figure 9.1.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Acquired by museum in 1991.

Provenance Information

Probably (Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1993

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

None known

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1993, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

(Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1979 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1993

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1993-2017

Publication Information

None known

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1993, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

-1967 collection of Farhadi & Anavian, New York;1967 collection of Arthur M. Sackler Collections, New York (purchased by Arthur M. Sackler from Farhadi & Anavian); 1967-2001 collection of Sackler Collection at Columbia University, New York (gift of Arthur M. Sackler Collections); 2001-2014 collection of The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, New York, NY (returned from Columbia University and transferred to the Sackler Foundation); 2014 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (gift of The Arthur M. Sackler Foundation)

Exhibition Information

Columbia University, New York, [Sackler Collection], included in various rotating displays between 1967 and 2001

Publication Information

none

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

Part of a larger gift from the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation that, according to correspondence and documentation on file, was acquired by Dr. Sackler from Farhadi & Anavian, New York, in 1967.

Provenance Information

c. 1961/before c. 1975 – 2008 collection of Thomas Carroll (b. 1919), Chevy Chase, MD (acquired in Latin America while stationed with the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN (1958-1961) or while working on assignment with the Inter-American Development Bank (1961-1984)); 2008 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (gift of Thomas Carroll)

Exhibition Information

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection, March 29 – June 15, 2008

Publication Information

Scott, John F. and Laura Johnson-Kelly. A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection [an exh. cat.]. (Ithaca: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2008); ref. p. 79, color illus. p. 79, cat. no. 104.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The donor pledged part of his collection, including this object, to the museum prior to 2008, as per correspondence between the donor and the museum dated 2005, on file. The object was acquired by the donor between the 1960s and early 1970s, while stationed in or on assignment to Latin America.

Provenance Information

c. 1961/before c. 1975 – 2008 collection of Thomas Carroll (b. 1919), Chevy Chase, MD (acquired in Latin America while stationed with the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN (1958-1961) or while working on assignment with the Inter-American Development Bank (1961-1984)); 2008 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (gift of Thomas Carroll)

Exhibition Information

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection, March 29 – June 15, 2008

Publication Information

Scott, John F. and Laura Johnson-Kelly. A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection [an exh. cat.]. (Ithaca: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2008); ref. p. 135, color illus. p. 135, cat. no. 226.

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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The donor pledged part of his collection, including this object, to the museum prior to 2008, as per correspondence between the donor and the museum dated 2005, on file. The object was acquired by the donor between the 1960s and early 1970s, while stationed in or on assignment to Latin America.