2023.7.133

Object Title
Bark beater
Creation Date
A.D. 250-900
Credit Line
San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of John and Kathi Oppenheimer
Museum Contact
Lynley J. McAlpine, PhD <Lynley.McAlpine@samuseum.org>
Culture
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://sanantonio.emuseum.com/objects/25092/bark-beater?ctx=a9b927e2-2826-422e-b7c2-f860661e17ef&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Prior to AD 1550
Provenance Information
Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1980 (Note 1); John and Kathi Oppenheimer by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2023.
Note 1: This object appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection printed in November 1980 (date appears on the reverse of the photograph).
Exhibition Information
N/A
Publication Information
N/A
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
San Antonio Museum of Art staff began working with and exhibiting objects from the Oppenheimer collection on loan by 1998, a relationship that culminated in the donation of the collection to the museum in 2023. Documents presented to the museum prior to the donation indicate that Herbert Oppenheimer (1911-1989) was active in Mesoamerican art collecting by 1960; documentation also shows that his son, John Oppenheimer, was actively collecting by 1968. This artwork appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection dated to 1980, the earliest photographs of the collection in the museum’s possession.

2008.215.42

Object Title
Plumbate head vase of a bearded old man
Measurements
18.098 × 13.97 × 17.78 cm (7 1/8 × 5 1/2 × 7 in.)
Creation Date
A.D. 900–1200
Credit Line
Gift of Peter David Joralemon, B.A. 1969, M.Phil 1974
Museum Contact
artgalleryinfo@yale.edu
Culture
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/134184
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
N/A
Provenance Information
Sale, Sotheby’s, New York, May 26, 1978, lot 49. Purchased in New York, by Peter David Joralemon, New York, by 2008 (inv. no. PCV193); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2008
Exhibition Information
N/A
Publication Information
"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 144.

Elizabeth Kennedy Easby and John F. Scott, Before Cortés, Sculpture of Middle America: A Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 30, 1970 through January 3, 1971, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970), 279, fig. 254.
Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970
N/D
Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above
N/A

2020.011.104

Object Title
Human Head Fragment
Measurements
7 × 4.4 × 1.9 cm
Creation Date
1200-350 BCE
Credit Line
Gift of Nicholas J. Pisaris
Museum Contact
ashanle@emory.edu
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/40089/human-effigy-figurine-head-fragment?ctx=297b9bf3d025307267c070abe27ac1dc04679e65&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Older than 100 years
Provenance Information
Ex coll. Mark Hampton, United States. Ex coll. Nicholas Pisaris, United States, bequest from Hampton.
Exhibition Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been exhibited.
Publication Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been published.
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
Donor was living and working in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. We have receipts and documentation that support he was collecting in good faith, but we are unable to match the documents to specific objects.

2020.011.056

Object Title
Tripod Cylinder Vessel with Monkey Handles
Measurements
14 × 17.1 × 21 cm
Creation Date
650-850
Credit Line
Gift of Nicholas J. Pisaris
Museum Contact
ashanle@emory.edu
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/40043/tripod-cylinder-vessel-with-monkey-effigy-lug-handles?ctx=3afa006c4d763a0da1b22893adbec2ca1abc58a9&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Older than 100 years
Provenance Information
Ex coll. Nicholas Pisaris, Venezuela and United States, collected ca. 1968-1975.
Exhibition Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been exhibited.
Publication Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been published.
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
Donor was living and working in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. We have receipts and documentation that support he was collecting in good faith, but we are unable to match the documents to specific objects.

2020.011.041

Object Title
Female Effigy Figurine
Measurements
18.7 × 12.7 × 8.3 cm
Creation Date
600-900
Credit Line
Gift of Nicholas J. Pisaris
Museum Contact
ashanle@emory.edu
Culture
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/40028/female-effigy-figurine-seated-on-low-bench?ctx=8ae6598a6b3229dcaa6a9327bacb86ac1eb2041f&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Older than 100 years
Provenance Information
Ex coll. Nicholas Pisaris, Venezuela and United States, collected ca. 1968-1975.
Exhibition Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been exhibited.
Publication Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been published.
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
Donor was living and working in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. We have receipts and documentation that support he was collecting in good faith, but we are unable to match the documents to specific objects.

2020.011.036

Object Title
Seated Human Effigy Figure
Measurements
17.8 × 8.3 × 6 cm
Creation Date
600-900
Credit Line
Gift of Nicholas J. Pisaris
Museum Contact
ashanle@emory.edu
Culture
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/40023/seated-human-effigy-figure-perhaps-a-rattle?ctx=3ddfa48dc95ce214b0707cd18c3e24eaa7db0d9f&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Older than 100 years
Provenance Information
Ex coll. Nicholas Pisaris, Venezuela and United States, collected ca. 1968-1975.
Exhibition Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been exhibited.
Publication Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been published.
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
Donor was living and working in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. We have receipts and documentation that support he was collecting in good faith, but we are unable to match the documents to specific objects.

2020.011.035

Object Title
Standing Human Effigy Figurine
Measurements
13.7 × 8.9 × 4.4 cm
Creation Date
600-900
Credit Line
Gift of Nicholas J. Pisaris
Museum Contact
ashanle@emory.edu
Culture
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
https://collections.carlos.emory.edu/objects/40022/standing-human-effigy-figurine?ctx=ec82f648976136ad429c7a250b324f172cc27b91&idx=0
Museum's Definition of Antiquity
Older than 100 years
Provenance Information
Ex coll. Nicholas Pisaris, Venezuela and United States, collected ca. 1968-1975.
Exhibition Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been exhibited.
Publication Information
To our knowledge, this object has never been published.
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
Donor was living and working in Venezuela in the 1960s and 1970s. We have receipts and documentation that support he was collecting in good faith, but we are unable to match the documents to specific objects.

2015.677

Object Title
Pendant
Measurements
H. 3 × W. 1 1/2 × D. 1 1/2 in. (7.6 × 3.8 × 3.8 cm)
Creation Date
A.D. 600–700
Credit Line
Gift of Steven Kossak, The Kronos Collections, 2015
Culture
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/701645?sortBy=Relevance&amp;ft=kossak+pendant&amp;offset=0&amp;rpp=20&amp;pos=1
Provenance Information
Reportedly Collection of Jorge Castillo (d. 1977), Guatemala City; Reportedly Collection of David Bramhall, New York; [Judith Small Nash, Woodstock, NY, until 1990]; Steven Kossak, The Kronos Collections, New York, until 2015; Gift of Steven Kossak to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015.
Exhibition Information
None
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
The work was reportedly in the collection of Jorge Castillo, a well-known collector of Maya art in Guatemala City who was active from the 1960s until his death in 1977. He left the majority of his collection to the Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala City, where it was catalogued between 1975 and 1978 in preparation for the formation of a museum, now known as the Museo Popol Vuh. This work was not catalogued and added to the collection of the Museo Popol Vuh, and it is possible it was sold by Castillo before he had made plans for the formation of the museum.

Judith Small Nash sold the work in 1990 to the current owner. Ms. Nash may have acquired the work from David Bramhall (and recalls that he may have acquired it from the Castillo family). Mr. Bramhall was an active dealer in the 1960s and 1970s and reportedly had a long-term relationship with the Castillo family going back to the 1950s. The Judith Small Nash Gallery was one of the leading vendors of Precolumbian and Native American from the 1960s until the owner’s retirement in the 2000s.

Among the corpus of Maya crown jewels, this work is among the top five ever found, and the only one not currently in a public collection. The work is exceptional for its relative size, the beauty of the apple-green jade (the shade most preferred by the Maya), and the outstanding sculptural qualities of the work. The richly volumetric carving sets this work apart from known, flatter compositions. This gift enhances the Metropolitan Museum’s ability to convey the splendor of Mayan royal regalia to visitors.

2009.20.232

Object Title
Figural Pendant
Measurements
H: 3 1/4 x W: 11/16 x D: 9/16 in. (8.2 x 1.7 x 1.5 cm)
Creation Date
AD 250-450
Credit Line
Bequest of John G. Bourne, 2017
Culture
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
http://art.thewalters.org/detail/80387
Provenance Information
Leonard Kalina [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, August 21, 1992, 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.

TL.2009.20.224

Object Title
Eccentric
Measurements
L: 4 13/16 x W: 1 7/8 x D: 5/16 in. (12.2 x 4.8 x 0.8 cm)
Creation Date
AD 250-850
Credit Line
Gift of John G. Bourne, 2014
Country of Origin
Object Type
Materials / Techniques
Object URL
http://art.thewalters.org/detail/80379
Provenance Information
Michael Robins [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, 1990s, by purchase; given to Walters Art Museum, 2014.
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.
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