Provenance Information

Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, England; 1983 - 2014
C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Bluett & Sons Ltd.; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

1981, "Dr. Newton's Zoo: A Study of Post-Archaic Small Jade Carvings" (London: Bluett & Sons Ltd., 1981), plates II and 4

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

by 1934 - still in 1943 Yamanaka & Co., Inc., New York, NY, USA; by 1955 - still in 1994 Private collection(s), Japan; Caseset Limited (Anthony Carter), London, England; 1998 - 2014 Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Caseset Limited; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

1934, Yamanaka & Co., Inc., 680 Fifth Avenue, New York "Exhibition of Chinese Pottery Horses and Camels, Dating from the Han Dynasty to the 20th Century"; 1994, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan, "Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics"

Publication Information

1934, "Exhibition of Chinese Pottery Horses and Camels, Dating from the Han Dynasty to the 20th Century", sales catalogue, Yamanaka & Co., New York, NY, cat no. 4; 1943, "Collection of Chinese and Other Far Eastern Art Assembled by Yamanaka & Company, Inc., Now in Process of Liquidation under the Supervision of the Alien Property Custodian of the United States of America," Yamanaka & Company, Inc., New York, NY, cat. no. 485; 1994, "Special Exhibition of Chinese Ceramics," exhibition catalogue, Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, Japan, cat no. 82

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

Carter Fine Art Limited (Anthony Carter), London, England; 1994 - 2014 Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Carter Fine Art Limited; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

Eric J. Zetterquist, New York, NY; 1995 - 2014
Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, purchased from Eric J. Zetterquist; 2014
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, England; 1988 - 2014 C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Bluett & Sons Ltd.; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd., Hong Kong; 1989 - 2014 C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd.; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

James J. Lally, New York, NY; 1986 - 2014
C.C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, purchased from James J. Lally; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd., Hong Kong; 1988 - 2014 C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased from Charlotte Horstmann & Gerald Godfrey Ltd.; 2014 Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Edith J. and C. C. Johnson Spink

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

In a letter dated August 16, 1988, C.C. Johnson Spink wrote to a Hong Kong dealer explaining that his purchase was “destined for the St. Louis Art Museum” and that “the collection…will be given to the Museum at some future date.” This object was part of a collection of 215 works of Chinese or Japanese origin, collected by C. C. Johnson Spink and Edith J. Spink from the 1970s through the 1990s. The Museum formally received the collection by bequest in 2014.

Provenance Information

between 1984 and 1996 - 2007 collection of John (1924-2007) and Stella Fessler McCoy (b. 1934), Shanghai and Arlington, VA (purchased in Shanghai, probably at the Fleet Market); 2007 - 2012 collection of Stella Fessler McCoy, Arlington (sole owner after death of John McCoy); 2012 Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (gift of Stella McCoy)

Exhibition Information

None

Publication Information

None

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 mirror is one of a small but significant collection of Chinese mirrors, which demonstrates the importance of this medium and form in the Chinese culture, particularly when held in dialogue with similar objects from other dynasties and/or cultures.