Provenance Information

Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1998 (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 dated to 1998. It was likely acquired well before the photograph was made, as many objects in the Oppenheimer collection were acquired before 1980.

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.

Provenance Information

Collection of Anton Possenbacker, Munich, Germany, by early 1970s; purportedly purchased by Private Collector, Switzerland. (Constance Kamens Fine Art), New York; purchased by Brian and Florence Mahony, Redding, CT, 1986; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2012.

Exhibition Information

On display in the Museum Arts of the Ancient Americas (formerly Pre-Columbian) Galleries, 2012-2017

Publication Information

Ferdinand Anton. Alt-Indianische Kunst in Mexiko. 28. VEB E.A. Seeman Verlag, Leipzig. 1986.

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

The work has been in the United State since the early 1970s, and was purchased by donors in 1986. Acquisition adds to the Museum's collection of Tlatilco works and allows opportunity to put object into public domain and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

Purchased in New York, by Peter David Joralemon, New York, 1980s (inv. no. PCV88); 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.

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

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

Provenance Information

Purchased in New York, by Peter David Joralemon, New York, 2006 (inv. no. PCV188); 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.

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

Provenance Information

Acquired in New York by Peter David Joralemon, New York, 1970s (inv. no. PCS392); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2008

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

m"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 144.

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

Provenance Information

From personal communication: purchased from Spencer Throckmorton Fine Arts in New York on December 8, 1986 by Barbara and Joseph Goldenberg. Originally sold by Stendahl Galleries. Inherited by Sweeney family in 2010. No additional provenance information is reportedly available from Mrs. Sweeney.

Exhibition Information

Exhibited at Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, OK prior to 1972.

Publication Information

N/A

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 LACMA and AAMD guidelines, if the provenance of a proposed acquisition does not clearly indicate that the antiquity in question was outside its country of origin prior to 1970, the museum may determine to proceed with the acquisition based on an analysis of the benefits and risks, and in accordance with AAMD’s guidelines for the publication of the object and the provenance information known about it, with an explanation of the basis for the museum’s decision. Generally, LACMA believes that, absent evidence of looting or illegal export of any antiquities, but given incomplete provenance establishing that the objects were outside their source countries prior to 1970 and prior to any applicable foreign patrimony laws, it is in LACMA’s and the public interest to accept such objects for the purpose of bringing them into the public domain, caring for them and publishing them, both for scholarly purposes and for the purpose of providing notice to any party, including source countries, that may have a claim or information relating to the provenance of the objects.

Provenance Information

Dalton Trumbo (died 1976), California; by descent to the Estate of Dalton Trumbo, California, by 1978; sale, Sotheby’s Parke-Bernet, New York, March 3, 1978, lot 65. David Peter Joralemon, New York, by 1990s (inv. no. PCS362); 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.

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

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.

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.