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

Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, by 1972; purchase by Alan R. Brodie, Chicago, Illinois May 8, 1972; bequeathed to the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, 2012.

Exhibition Information

None

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 Art Institute of Chicago can make an informed judgment that the object was outside its probable country of modern discovery before 1970. Alan Brodie, the former owner, maintained file cards with detailed notes on each of his art acquisitions. Each card was apparently initiated when the object was first acquired and then additional notes seem to have been added contemporaneously, as information about the object became available. According to the card for these objects, which is in the curator's files, Mr. Brodie acquired them from the Richard Gray Gallery on May 8, 1972. By fax dated January 13, 2012, the Gray Gallery confirmed that, at that time of Mr. Brodie's purchase, the gallery often sold pre-Columbian objects on a consignment basis for Andre Emmerich, Inc. (New York, New York). The fax included a copy of an invoice dated May 15, 1972 that referenced a payment due to Andre Emmerich, Inc. for a "Pair of Maya vases." The Gray Gallery believes this invoice is for the consignment payment due to Andre Emmerich, Inc. after the sale of these objects to Mr. Brodie. The gallery does not have the invoice for the sale to Mr. Brodie. Andre Emmerich, Inc. is no longer in business and we have been unable to determine when or from whom it acquired the objects. Presumably, however, first Andre Emmerich, Inc. and then the Richard Gray Gallery were in possession of the object for some period of time prior to May 8, 1972. The acquisition of these objects furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because they expand the scope of the Art Institute of Chicago's pre-Columbian holdings in a new direction.

Provenance Information

Louisiana Gallery (Joan Crystal), Houston, Texas, by mid-/late 1970s, probably before 1977; sold to Balene McCormick, Houston, Texas, then Santa Fe, New Mexico, mid-/late 1970s, probably 1977; sold to Robert and Marianne Huber Fine Arts (Huber Primitive Art), Dixon, Illinois and New York, New York, after 1977; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Illinois, 2008.

Exhibition Information

None

Publication Information

Elizabeth Irene Pope, "Vessel with Bird and Peccary Heads," Notable Acquisitions at the Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Studies 35, 2 (2009), pp. 6-7.

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 Art Institute of Chicago can make an informed judgment that the object was outside its probable country of modern discovery before 1970. The Art Institute of Chicago acquired this object in 2008 from Robert and Marianne Huber Fine Arts (Huber Primitive Art), Dixon, Illinois and New York, New York. According to a letter from Marianne Huber to the curator, the object was previously owned by Balene McCormick, a collector who purchased it in or around 1977 from the Louisiana Gallery in Houston, Texas. The Louisiana Gallery acquired the object in the mid to late 1970's, but likely before 1977. Attempts to contact the Louisiana Gallery were unsuccessful, as the gallery is no longer in business. The acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because the object represents another form of Maya ceramic art and illustrates another aspect of mythological and kingship iconography from the two important Maya vases already in the Art Institute of Chicago’s collection.