Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Genevieve Arnold (1928-2005), Atlanta, Georgia, July 12, 1982.

Exhibition Information

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), 48, figure 89.

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 1990.

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.

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.

Provenance Information

Purchased by Major Elmer McBryde c. 1947 from another army officer, by decent to daughter, Diana McBride-Farley; Throckmorton Fine Art Inc., New York, NY; Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection, St. Petersburg, FL (2003).

Exhibition Information

On view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg since 2021.

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

Promised gift prior to 2008.

Provenance Information

Private collection, Belgium, possibly by the late 1950s; purchased by Samuel Pascasio, New York, by the early 1970s; [Alphonse Jax, New York], by the early 1970s; purchased by Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington, May 27, 2000

Exhibition Information

None known

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

Based on the results of provenance research, as well as cumulative facts and circumstances, this Aztec seated figure was outside its probable country of modern discovery (Mexico) by 1970. Per email correspondence with previous owner Alphonse Jax, the piece was purchased from Samuel Pascasio, who Jax remembers having documents confirming its placement in a private Belgian collection by the late 1950s. While there is no documentation to corroborate, photographs of the work received from Jax bear labels on their verso that indicate they were taken in Belgium. Further provenance research will be ongoing, but the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) can conclude, based on the aforementioned facts, that the work was likely in Belgium before 1970. This work cleared a search conducted by the Art Loss Register. SAM has in its collection a smaller example of an Aztec standing figure, representing a priest-follower of the god Tlaloc (god of fertility). Exhibited together, these works provide an opportunity to present visual components of complex Aztec cosmology and a range of stylistic variables in this art form.

Provenance Information

Private collection, California; Ron Messick Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, August 7, 2000, by purchase.

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

Throckmorton Fine Arts, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, 1990s, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 2009, by gift.

Exhibition Information

Art of Ancient America, 1500 B.C.-1400 A.D.. Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe. 1998-2008. 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 gift began in April 2005.