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. 133, color illus. p. 133, cat. no. 224.

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

Acquired by Konstantinos Notaras, London, at Portobello Road market, London, ca. 1969-1970. Consigned by Mr. Notaras to Bonhams, London, April 28, 2010, lot 20. Sold to Rhea Gallery, Zurich. Sold by Rhea Gallery, Zurich, to the Museum.

Exhibition Information

The work was exhibited in connection with the Bonhams auction.

Publication Information

Bonhams catalogue, London, April 28, 2010, lot 20.

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

The work has a provenance established to ca. 1969-1970, when it was purchased in a London street market, Portobello Road, but the Metropolitan Museum has been unable to ascertain the exact date of that purchase. The work is mounted as a European tie-pin in a setting of 9 carat gold specifically designed to hold it. The style dates the mounting to a period pre ca. 1920; the pin is contained in a fitted box of the same date embossed with the name of an English jewelry retailer. The inlay was sold at public auction in 2010 so mounted and boxed, and is published with an illustration in the auction catalogue. Precious-stone inlays of this size, quality, type and date are extremely rare. The piece both broadens the range and deepens a constructional understanding of the Museum’s existing collection of largely intact Egyptian Middle Kingdom jewelry.

Provenance Information

The work was reportedly found in the early 1960’s with five similar works near Faza, 75 kilometers southeast of Shiraz in the province of Fars in Iran. According to Roman Ghirshman, who published the work in 1963, the work was once in the Azizbeghlou collection in Tehran, Iran, but was sold before 1963. In 1966, the work was exhibited at the Musée Rath in Geneva, Switzerland and the catalogue accompanying the exhibition noted that the work was in a private collection. The Metropolitan Museum believes, but does not have independent confirmation, that the private collection was that of Charles Gillet, who died in 1966, or his partner, Marion Schuster, both of Lausanne, Switzerland. Marion Schuster apparently inherited all or most of Charles Gillet’s collection upon his death. When Marion Schuster died, one of her daughters, Mathilde de Goldschmidt Rothschild, who lived in Europe, inherited the work. On July 10, 1989, the work was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in London, Antiquities from the Collection of the Late Madame Marion Schuster, Lausanne and by Descent the Property of Madame Mathilde de Goldschmidt Rothschild, as lot 59. In 1992, the work was sold by Robin Symes to Bodo Schöps, who, in 2004, transferred ownership to the Exartis Foundation. The Exartis Foundation then transferred ownership to Mrs. Hiroko Horiuchi who, in 2010, transferred ownership to Mr. Noriyoshi Horiuchi, from whom The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the work.

Exhibition Information

In 1966, the work was exhibited at the Musée Rath in Geneva, Switzerland and was also exhibited in connection with the Sotheby’s auction in 1989. The work has been on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1999 and on display in the Museum’s Ancient Near East galleries since that time.

Publication Information

The work was first published in 1963 in Ghirshman, Roman, “Notes Iraniennes XII, Statuettes Archaïques du Fars (Iran).” Artibus Asiae 26, pp. 151-160. In 1966, the work was published in the catalogue accompanying Musée Rath exhibition. The work was published again in 1968 in Nagel, Wolfram, “Westmakkanische Rundplastik.” Berliner Jahrbuch für Vor- und Frügeschichte 8, pp.104-19. The work was also published in the Sotheby’s auction catalogue in 1989.

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

The work has provenance established to the 1960’s. Although the Metropolitan Museum has been unable to confirm when the work left Iran on a permanent basis, the Metropolitan Museum suspects that the work was permanently outside Iran and in a Swiss private collection by 1966 since all parties associated with the work since 1966 were Swiss and lived in Switzerland or elsewhere in Europe. The work was published in 1963, 1966, 1968 and 1989, when it was sold at public auction. The work was on public display at the Musée Rath in Geneva in 1966, and has been on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1999. The work is one of six such sculptures known to exist and fulfills a crucial function in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection by allowing the Museum to document an area of the ancient world that became known to archaeologists only a few decades ago.

Provenance Information

John G. Bourne [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; given to John G. Bourne Foundation, 2000 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 2012.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, August 11, 2001, by purchase; given to John G. Bourne Foundation, 2001 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Albuquerque Museum of Art & History; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. 2012-2013.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this gift / promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Ron Messick Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, December 18, 1999, by purchase; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 2017.

Exhibition Information

Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Albuquerque Museum of Art & History; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. 2012-2013.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Ron Messick Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, June 15, 1999, by purchase; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Ron Messick Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, June 15, 1999, by purchase; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection Gift. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Albuquerque Museum of Art & History; Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville. 2012-2013.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, 2010, by purchase; given to John G. Bourne Foundation, 2010 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

John G. Bourne, 1989, by purchase [from a dealer in Los Angeles]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

Publication Information

Reents-Budet, Dorie. Exploring art of the ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection. Baltimore: Walters Art Museum, 2012.

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

Communications between the Walters Art Museum and the donor of this promised gift began in April 2005.