Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Laurence Witten (1926-1995), Monroe, Connecticut, May 5, 1976.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001;
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012;
'For I am the Black Jaguar': Shamanic Visionary Experience in Ancient American Art, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 5, 2012 - January 5, 2013;
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - March 13, 2019;
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - April 6, 2025

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Art of the Andes: From Chavin to Inca (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995), 105, figure 88.;
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), 225, figure 515.;
Rebecca Stone-Miller, "Human-Animal Imagery, Shamanic Visions, and Ancient American Aesthetics," RES 45 (2004): 47-68.;
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 78.
Rebecca Stone, Art of the Andes: From Chavin to Inca. 3rd Edition (London: Thames and Hudson, 2012), 119, figure 103.;
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), cover image, 168, figure 7.15 - 7.16.

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 1989.

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

with Henry Willard Lende, Jr (1937-2016), San Antonio, TX, by 2016; by gift of the estate of Henry Willard Lende, Jr. to the San Antonio Museum of Art, 2018

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

N/A

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 object was a gift of the estate of Henry Willard Lende, Jr. (1937-2016) of San Antonio TX, who left behind no records concerning the provenance of this object. SAMA accepted the object with incomplete provenance to make it publicly accessible. This vessel contributes to a focus on South American ceramics in SAMA’s Art of the Americas before 1521 collection.

Provenance Information

1968-2018, private New York collection (object #122)

Exhibition Information

Long-term loan to PUAM (L.1990.34.6)

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

Based on the results of provenance research, the Princeton University Art Museum can make an informed judgment that the object was outside its probable country of modern discovery before 1970. The collector maintained a sequential inventory of their collection with the year of each acquisition specified. The accuracy of the list is corroborated by a number of works in the inventory that were either published in other collections prior to the collector’s acquisition date or published or exhibited shortly after the acquisition, in each instance with the appropriate ownership history indicated. According to the inventory, the collector acquired this work in the 1968.

Provenance Information

Arnold F. Strauss, M.D, 1902–1965; Margaret S. and Linus Travers, to 2018; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions July 1, 2017–June 30, 2018," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/bulletin/Pub-Bull-acquisitions-2018.pdf (accessed December 1, 2018).

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

Arnold Strauss, collector of this collection died in 1965, the collection was willed to his daughter, Margaret Travers upon his death

Provenance Information

Collection of Robert and Marianne Huber, New York; [Sotheby’s, New York, Pre-Columbian Art, Nov. 20, 1995, sale no. 6778, lot no. 11, reproduced]; purchased by Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington

Exhibition Information

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Feasting with the Gods: Art and Ceremony in Ancient Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, Dec.11, 2003-July 19, 2004

Publication Information

José Antonio de Lavalle, Moche, Lima, 1985, pg. 55.

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 cumulative facts and circumstances known to the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) at the time of acquisition allowed the museum to make an informed judgment to acquire the object. Although it is not known when the work was outside its probable country of modern discovery (Peru), or acquired by Robert and Marianne Huber—important collectors of Pre-Columbian objects—this bowl featured prominently in the publication Moche (1985) by José Antonio de Lavalle. In addition, the work was included in an exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, titled Feasting with the Gods: Art and Ceremony in Ancient Mesoamerica and the Central Andes, from December 11, 2003-July 19, 2004. This bowl cleared a search conducted by the Art Loss Register. SAM has ten Mochica vessels in its collection depicting warriors, humans, supernatural beings and animals, but not such a distinctive flaring vessel with exceptional quality of fine line painting. The vessel provides a visual documentation of an important theme in Mochica art and culture: mythical hunters and warriors.

Provenance Information

[Galerie El Jaguar, Caracas, Venezuela]; purchased by Lenora and Jimmy Belilty, Paris, France, probably by 1979; [Sotheby’s, New York, Pre-Columbian Art, Nov. 23, 1998, sale no. 7224, lot no. 14, reproduced]; purchased by Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

José Antonio de Lavalle, Coleccion Arte y Tesoros del Peru, Moche, Lima, 1985, pl. 53.

José Antonio de Lavalle, Coleccion Arte y Tesoros del Peru, Trujillo, Lima, 1990, pg. 133.

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

Based on the results of provenance research, this Mochica Ai-Apec stirrup vessel was in Caracas, Venezuela by the late 1970s, when it was purchased by its previous owner, collector Jimmy Belilty. This piece featured prominently in two publications by José Antonio de Lavalle: Coleccion Arte y Tesoros del Peru Moche (1985 and 1990). Together, these cumulative facts and circumstances known at the time of acquisition allowed the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) to make an informed judgment to acquire the object. The vessel cleared a search conducted by the Art Loss Register. SAM’s collection has some examples of blackware ceramics, but nothing as rich as this piece in composition and iconography.

Provenance Information

c. 1961/before c. 1975 – 2008 collection of Thomas Carroll (b. 1919), Chevy Chase, MD (acquired in Latin America while stationed with the Food and Agriculture Organization, UN (1958-1961) or while working on assignment with the Inter-American Development Bank (1961-1984)); 2008 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca (gift of Thomas Carroll)

Exhibition Information

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection, March 29 – June 15, 2008

Publication Information

Scott, John F. and Laura Johnson-Kelly. A New World: Pre-Columbian Art from the Carroll Collection [an exh. cat.]. (Ithaca: Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, 2008); ref. p. 119, color illus. p. 119, cat. no. 196.

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

The donor pledged part of his collection, including this object, to the museum prior to 2008, as per correspondence between the donor and the museum dated 2005, on file. The object was acquired by the donor between the 1960s and early 1970s, while stationed in or on assignment to Latin America.

Provenance Information

Unknown owner; sold at auction by Sotheby's New York, New York to Edward and Betty Harris, Chicago, Illinois on May 19, 1987 [documentation in curatorial file]; forty percent interest in the work gifted to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004; remaining sixty percent interest in the work gifted to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015.

Exhibition Information

None

Publication Information

Sotheby's, Pre-Columbian Art Auction Catalogue, New York, Tuesday, May 19, 1987, cat. no. 16 (ill. detail of inner rim on front and back cover; full interior with object description).

Christopher B. Donnan and Donna McClelland, "Moche Fineline Painting: Its evolution and Its Artists" (UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, 1999), figure 4.105 (ill.; photograph and line drawings).

Anne Marie Hocquenghem, "Sacrifices and Ceremonial Calendars in Societies of the Central Andes: A Reconsideration" in The Art and Archaeology of the Moche: In Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast, edited by S. Bourget and K. Jones (University of Texas Press, 2008), pg. 27, fig. 2.2 (line drawing of detail).

Christopher B. Donnan, "Moche State Religion: A Unifying Force in Moche Political Organization" in New Perspectives on Moche Political Organization, edited by Jeffrey Quilter and Luis Jamie Castillo B. (Dumbarton Oaks, 2010), fig. 12 (line drawing of detail).

Section of the AAMD Guidelines relied upon for the exception to 1970

Partial interest received prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

On November 8, 2004, Edward and Betty Harris entered into a written agreement with the Art Institute of Chicago. Under the terms of that agreement, Mr. and Mrs. Harris gave an immediate forty percent interest in the work to the Art Institute of Chicago and promised to give the remaining sixty percent interest in the work to the Art Institute at or before their deaths. Mr. and Mrs. Harris gifted the remaining sixty percent interest in the work to the Art Institute by deed of gift dated December 31, 2015.

The work augments the Art Institute’s permanent collection of Moche objects in its distinctive vessel form, exceptional quality of painted design, and unique narrative presentation of warfare. The Art Institute's Moche collection includes effigy vessels portraying warriors and captives, along with painted vessels that display abbreviated and allegoric references to warfare and human sacrifice. This vessel provides an unusually elucidating visual documentation of Moche warfare, including the preparation, combat, and capture of enemies, which will enhance the Art Institute's ability to explain one of the essential themes of Moche art and culture.

Provenance Information

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, August 1, 1994, 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 gift / promised gift began in April 2005.