Provenance Information

[Attilio Simonetti, Rome, until d. 1925; by descent to his son Ugo]; [Ugo Simonetti, Rome; Collezioni Simonetti: Quadri, mobili e oggeti d’arte sale, Casa di vendite G. G. Tavazzi, Rome, April 25–May 6, 1932, nos. 414 (helmet) and 415 (belt); bought-in at the sale]; Franca Simonetti Eckhouse, daughter of Ugo Simonetti, Rome, New York City, then Portland, Ore. (by no later than 1960, the year of her father’s death, until 2001, when sold); [Philippe Missillier, Lyon and Paris, until 2013; sold to De Primi Fine Arts]; [De Primi Fine Arts, Lugano, 2013; sold to CL Investments]; [CL Investments Ltd., 2013–22; sold to MMA].

Exhibition Information

London. Ariadne Galleries, Inc. "Art and Adornment: Treasures of Combat," June 30–July 8, 2016.

Publication Information

G. Tavazzi. Collezioni Simonetti. Rome: G. Tavazzi, April 25–May 6, 1932. p. 61, nos. 414–15, pl. 81.

Ariadne Galleries, Inc. Art and Adornment: Treasures of Combat. New York: Ariadne Galleries, Inc., 2016. pp. 72–75, no. 19, ill.

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

Franca Simonetti Eckhouse (1920–2007), who owned and sold the helmet and belt in 2001, was the daughter of Ugo Simonetti (1871–1960) and granddaughter of Attilio Simonetti (1842–1925), who successively owned the helmet and belt. Married to an American, she emigrated to New York City in 1948 and later lived in Portland, Oregon. When the Helmet and Belt left Italy is unknown, but given that their owner as of 1960 was in New York, the Metropolitan Museum has a good faith belief they were outside of Italy before 1970.

Provenance Information

[André Emmerich Gallery, New York, 1960’s]; Guido and Nelly di Tella, Buenos Aires, 1960’s-2013; Claudia Quentin, New York, 2013-2021

Exhibition Information

On view in the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, September 22, 2015-April 26, 2016 (TR.561.2014; L.2015.14)

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

The work has a reported provenance from 1960’s, when it was acquired by Guido and Nelly di Tella, Buenos Aires, from dealer André Emmerich, New York. The di Tellas sold the Wari tunic to Claudia Quentin, Buenos Aires, in 2013 at which time Mrs. di Tella informed Mrs. Quentin that the tunic came from Andre Emmerich. The di Tella children have confirmed that their parents bought from Mr. Emmerich in the 1960’s and remember Precolumbian textiles in a protected niche in their home since that time. In addition, the conservation technique applied to the Tunic is of a type known from the 1950’s and 1960’s and not used in recent decades.

Provenance Information

[Fine Arts of Ancient Lands, before 1981]; the Mol Collection, New York, until 2021

Exhibition Information

1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Cat. 122 (Exhibition)
2002-2003 On loan to MMA (L.2002.26.1)
2016-2018 On loan to MMA (L.2016.28)

Publication Information

1981 Robicsek, Frances, and Donald Hales. The Maya Book of the Dead. Vessel 120, p. 92, 95-96. (Illustration).
1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Cat. 122 (Exhibition)
1987 Stuart, David. Ten Phonetic Syllables. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 14. Washington, D.C., Center for Maya Research.
1990 Schele, Linda, and David A. Freidel. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc. Plate 122, Fig. 2:4 (Illustration)
1992 Taube, Karl A. The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 4c. (Illustration)
1993 Schele, Linda, David Freidel, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos. New York, Harper Collins. Fig. 2:23 (Illustration)
1994 Stuart, David, and Stephen Houston. Classic Maya Place Names. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 92 (Illustration)
1998 Reents Budet, Dorie. Elite Maya Pottery and Artisans as Social Indicators. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 8(1):71-89. Fig. 5.2. (Illustration)
1999 Kerr, Justin. K1609. The Maya Vase Database. http://research.mayavase.com
2001 Newsome, Elizabeth A. Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World. Austin, University of Texas Press. Fig. 2.25 (Illustration)

2003 Looper, Matthew. Lightning Warrior: Maya art and Kingship at Quirigua. Austin, University of Texas Press. Fig. 2.25, 3.10 (Illustration)
2006 Velásquez García, Erik. The Maya Flood Myth and the Decapitation of the Cosmic Caiman. PARI Journal 7(1): 1-10. Fig. 3 (Illustration).
2010 Finamore, Daniel, and Stephen Houston (eds.). Fiery Pool: Maya and the Mythic Sea. Salem, Peabody Essex Museum. Fig. 3.10 (Illustration)
2013 Tokovinine, Alexandre. Place and Identity in Classic Maya Narratives. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 30a (Illustration)
2014 Kettunen, Harri and Christophe Helmke. Water in Maya Imagery and Writing. Contributions in New World Archaeology 5: 17-38. Fig. 7 (Illustration)
2015 Steinbach, Penny. Aligning the Jester God: The Implications of Horizontality and Verticality in the Iconography of a Classic Maya Emblem. In Maya Imagery, Architecture, and Activity, Maline D. Werness-Rude and Kaylee R. Spencer, eds., pp. 106-139. Fig. 2.7. (Illustration)
2016 Doyle, James A. Creation Narratives on Ancient Maya Codex-Style Ceramics in the Met’s Collections. Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 51, pp. 42-63. (Illustration)
2016 McDonald, J. Andrew. Deciphering the Symbols and Symbolic Meaning of the Maya World Tree. Ancient Mesoamerica 27(2): 333-359. Fig. 1 (a). (Illustration)
2016-2018 On loan to MMA (L.2016.28)
2017 Doyle, James, and Stephen Houston. The Universe in a Maya Plate. Maya Decipherment. 3 April 2017. https://decipherment.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/the-universe-in-a-maya-plate/
2017 Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo. Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya. New Haven, Yale University Press. Fig. 125, 126 (Illustration)

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 work was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from March 8, 2002 through July 25, 2003.
In addition, the work has reported provenance to the late 1970s and was first published in 1981. This well-known Maya plate has been very widely published since, having been exhibited in the foundational Blood of Kings exhibition in the 1980s and featured in the catalogue. The work has also been published on Justin Kerr’s website Mayavase.com since the 1990s (photo K1609). The work was on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for display from 2002 – 2003 and from 2016 through 2018.
The work is a unique composition in the “codex-style”, a calligraphic painting tradition that flourished in the seventh and eight centuries in southern Campeche, Mexico, and northern Petén, Guatemala. Examples of this style, such as MMA 1978.412.206, were known to be collected in the 1960s.
Museum’s Definition of Antiquity: Created before the Age of Exploration (beginning in the early 15th century) and buried at one time.

Provenance Information

[Before 1974 with Michael Abemayor, New York]; from Peter Sharer, New York; from 1977 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum.

Provenance Information

[With Peter Sharer, New York]; in collection of Jack Josephson, New York (from Sharer); Charles D. Kelekian, New York (from Josephson)]; from 1982 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum. Additionally, Charles D. Kelekian (d. 1982) had a practice of collecting many works once owned by the Dikran G. Kelekian gallery, dissolved in 1952. He transferred many of these works to his daughter, Nanette, during his lifetime. Her records indicate this work was transferred after 1970.

Provenance Information

Probably with Charles D. Kelekian, New York; after 1970 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum. Additionally, Charles D. Kelekian (d. 1982) had a practice of collecting many works once owned by the Dikran G. Kelekian gallery, dissolved in 1952. He transferred many of these works to his daughter, Nanette, during his lifetime. Her records indicate this work was transferred after 1970.

Provenance Information

[Before 1974 with Michael Abemayor, New York], purchase, Nanette B. Kelekian from Sotheby Parke-Bernet, December 11, 1976 (see below); from 1976 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., NY, "Fine Egyptian, Western Asiatic, and Classical Antiquities", December 11, 1976, lot 221.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum.

Provenance Information

Probably with Charles D. Kelekian, New York; after 1970 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum. Additionally, Charles D. Kelekian (d. 1982) had a practice of collecting many works once owned by the Dikran G. Kelekian gallery, dissolved in 1952. He transferred many of these works to his daughter, Nanette, during his lifetime. Her records indicate this work was transferred after 1970.

Provenance Information

Probably with Charles D. Kelekian, New York; after 1970 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum. Additionally, Charles D. Kelekian (d. 1982) had a practice of collecting many works once owned by the Dikran G. Kelekian gallery, dissolved in 1952. He transferred many of these works to his daughter, Nanette, during his lifetime. Her records indicate this work was transferred after 1970.

Provenance Information

Probably with Charles D. Kelekian, New York; after 1970 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

None.

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum. Additionally, Charles D. Kelekian (d. 1982) had a practice of collecting many works once owned by the Dikran G. Kelekian gallery, dissolved in 1952. He transferred many of these works to his daughter, Nanette, during his lifetime. Her records indicate this work was transferred after 1970.