Provenance Information

Sale, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, Penn., September 18, 2001, lot 1462; sold to private collection, California, September 18, 2001. Possibly Franz Fueg (1921–2019), Switzerland [see note 1]. Private collection, Eastern Europe [see note 2] [sale, Classical Numismatic Group, Lancaster, Penn., January 16, 2002, lot 2296 (unsold)]. Sale, Freeman and Sear, Los Angeles, California, about 2003; sold to the Rust Collection, California, about 2003s [see note 3]; sale, Classical Numismatic Group, New York, January 10, 2023, lot 946; sold to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2023

Note 1: Published in Fueg (2007), which includes some coins from his collection, it is uncertain whether this coin was one owned by him.

Note 2: Email from CNG to the Gallery, January 17, 2023, copy in accession file

Note 3: Email from CNG to the Gallery, January 17, 2023, copy in accession file

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

N/A

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

By 2007, Theodore Sarmas (b. 1938 – d. 2018), London; 2008, sold by Theodore Sarmas, through Robert Haber and Associates, New York, to George and Margo Behrakis, Tewksbury, MA; 2022, gift of George and Margo Behrakis to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 22, 2022)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
In 2008, this bracelet was purchased with the guidance of the Museum. The owner, Theodore Sarmas, provided documentation to the MFA that lists “a bracelet” along with trays, brooches, belts, crosses, and “other various items” that his father had acquired in 1937 from a Liverpool collector, Mr. Barry, and that were passed along to Mr. Sarmas at his father’s death in 1963. With this documentation, the MFA accepted the bracelet as a promised gift.

New information has come to light, suggesting that this was a false provenance used repeatedly by the seller. The story may have been fabricated to disguise a recent instance of archaeological looting. Normally, the MFA would not accept or hold an object believed to have been illicitly excavated without reaching out to representatives of the country of origin. In this case, however, the bracelet’s country of origin is not known. By drawing attention to its lack of provenance, the MFA hopes to increase the visibility of the bracelet, raise awareness of the problem of unprovenanced antiquities on the market, and bring in additional information from others.

Exhibition Information

"Past is Present: Revival Jewelry," MFA, Boston, February 14, 2017 - August 19, 2018.

Publication Information

Yvonne .J. Markowitz, Artful Adornments: Jewlery from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2011), p. 57.

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

At the time this was acquired, its provenance was believed to be traceable to a date earlier than 1970. The MFA has since uncovered new information that casts doubts on this account of its ownership history.

Provenance Information

Estate of Dorothy Sturm, Memphis, Tennessee, 1988; Pitt and Barbara Hyde, Memphis, Tennessee, 2016

Exhibition Information

no known prior exhibitions

Publication Information

no known prior publications

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

Coins of the Byzantine Empire were issued in very large numbers and were widely circulated. In the past coinage of this type tended to be poorly illustrated in sales catalogues, thus making it difficult to trace the provenance of particular pieces. Although Dorothy Sturm began collecting in the 1960s or 70s, the Brooks has been unable to substantiate the precise date of acquisition of this and other coins in collection as they were acquired by the donor after her death in 1988. The coin greatly enhances the Brooks’ collection of Medieval and Byzantine Art.

Provenance Information

Estate of Dorothy Sturm, Memphis, Tennessee, 1988; Pitt and Barbara Hyde, Memphis, Tennessee, 2016

Exhibition Information

no known prior exhibitions

Publication Information

no known prior publications

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

Coins of the Byzantine Empire were issued in very large numbers and were widely circulated. In the past coinage of this type tended to be poorly illustrated in sales catalogues, thus making it difficult to trace the provenance of particular pieces. Although Dorothy Sturm began collecting in the 1960s or 70s, the Brooks has been unable to substantiate the precise date of acquisition of this and other coins in collection as they were acquired by the donor after her death in 1988. The coin greatly enhances the Brooks’ collection of Medieval and Byzantine Art.

Provenance Information

Estate of Dorothy Sturm, Memphis, Tennessee, 1988; Pitt and Barbara Hyde, Memphis, Tennessee, 2016

Exhibition Information

no known prior exhibitions

Publication Information

no known prior publications

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

Coins of the Byzantine Empire were issued in very large numbers and were widely circulated. In the past coinage of this type tended to be poorly illustrated in sales catalogues, thus making it difficult to trace the provenance of particular pieces. Although Dorothy Sturm began collecting in the 1960s or 70s, the Brooks has been unable to substantiate the precise date of acquisition of this and other coins in collection as they were acquired by the donor after her death in 1988. The coin greatly enhances the Brooks’ collection of Medieval and Byzantine Art.

Provenance Information

Estate of Dorothy Sturm, Memphis, Tennessee, 1988; Pitt and Barbara Hyde, Memphis, Tennessee, 2016

Exhibition Information

no known prior exhibitions

Publication Information

no known prior publications

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

Coins of the Byzantine Empire were issued in very large numbers and were widely circulated. In the past coinage of this type tended to be poorly illustrated in sales catalogues, thus making it difficult to trace the provenance of particular pieces. Although Dorothy Sturm began collecting in the 1960s or 70s, the Brooks has been unable to substantiate the precise date of acquisition of this and other coins in collection as they were acquired by the donor after her death in 1988. The coin greatly enhances the Brooks’ collection of Medieval and Byzantine Art.

Provenance Information

Estate of Dorothy Sturm, Memphis, Tennessee, 1988; Pitt and Barbara Hyde, Memphis, Tennessee, 2016

Exhibition Information

no known prior exhibitions

Publication Information

no known prior publications

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

Coins of the Byzantine Empire were issued in very large numbers and were widely circulated. In the past coinage of this type tended to be poorly illustrated in sales catalogues, thus making it difficult to trace the provenance of particular pieces. Although Dorothy Sturm began collecting in the 1960s or 70s, the Brooks has been unable to substantiate the precise date of acquisition of this and other coins in collection as they were acquired by the donor after her death in 1988. The coin greatly enhances the Brooks’ collection of Medieval and Byzantine Art.

Provenance Information

Collection of Benjamin Zucker, New York (by 1985–2014); Taylor Thomson, Los Angeles and Toronto, Canada [purchased through Les Enluminures Ltd.] (2014–2016); given by Taylor Thomson to The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2016).

Exhibition Information

Exhibited in Cycles of Life: Rings from the Benjamin Zucker Family Collection, the exhibition of the Zucker Collection held at Les Enluminures Ltd., New York, October 30, 2014–December 6, 2014.

It was subsequently shown in the exhibition entitled, Treasures and Talismans: Rings from the Griffin Collection on view at The Met Cloisters, May 1 2015–October 18, 2015.

Publication Information

Sandra Hindman with Beatriz Chadour-Sampson, Riene Hadjadj, Jack Odgen and Diana Scraisbrick, Cycles of Life: Rings from the Benjamin Zucker Collection (London: Paul Holberton Publishing, 2014), cat. 8, pp. 70-73; Diana Scarisbrick, Rings: Jewelry of Love, Power, and Loyalty (London: Thames and Hudson, 2007), p. 61, no. 77.

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

This work has provenance confirmed to 1985, when it was placed on deposit, but not displayed, at the Walters Art Museum from 1985 to 2014. This work has been exhibited and published twice. This ring is especially significant for its status as the only early Byzantine marriage ring in the collection and for its linkage of the Roman and Byzantine cultures of late antiquity, when Christianity emerged as the dominant religion of the ruling classes.

Provenance Information

Jane Ayer Scott, Newton MA (by 2008), by inheritance; to her husband Wellington F. Scott III, (2008-2010), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2010.

Exhibition Information

No information available

Publication Information

No information available

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

Byzantine coins were issued in very large numbers and widely circulated beyond the place where they were struck. In the past this common coinage tended to be inadequately illustrated in sales catalogues, making it difficult to trace a particular specimen.

Provenance Information

[CNA (Classical Numismatic Auctions) XVIII, Dec. 3, 1991 lot 872], sold; to Jane Ayer Scott, Newton MA (1991-2008), by inheritance; to her husband Wellington F. Scott III, (2008-2010), gift; to the Harvard Art Museums, 2010.

Exhibition Information

No information available

Publication Information

CNA (Classical Numismatic Auctions) XVIII, Dec. 3, lot 872, Quarryville, PA and London, 1991.

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

Byzantine coins were issued in very large numbers and widely circulated beyond the place where they were struck. In the past this common coinage tended to be inadequately illustrated in sales catalogues, making it difficult to trace a particular specimen.