Provenance Information

Between about 1963 and 1979, acquired in Panama by Dr. Glenn E. Murphy (b. 1922 – d. 2010), Balboa, Panama and New Smyrna Beach, FL [see note]; about 2000, sold by Dr. Murphy to Dr. Alan Grinnell, Los Angeles; 2014, sold by Dr. Grinnell to Anthropos Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA; 2014, sold by Anthropos Gallery to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2019, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)

NOTE: Dr. Glen Murphy was an educator for the Panama Canal Zone government, who resided in Panama beginning in 1963. He had previously been there for the State Department as early as the 1950s. Dr. Murphy moved back to the United States with his household goods, including his collection of ceramics, in 1979.

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

At the time this vessel was collected, Dr. Murphy was residing in the Panama Canal Zone, a territory of the United States. It was exported in early 1979, before Panama's 1982 legislation regarding antiquities was in place.

Provenance Information

Between about 1963 and 1979, acquired in Panama by Dr. Glenn E. Murphy (b. 1922 – d. 2010), Balboa, Panama and New Smyrna Beach, FL [see note]; about 2000, sold by Dr. Murphy to Dr. Alan Grinnell, Los Angeles; 2014, sold by Dr. Grinnell to Anthropos Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA; 2014, sold by Anthropos Gallery to Timothy Phillips, Boston; 2019, gift of Timothy Phillips to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 11, 2019)

NOTE: Dr. Glen Murphy was an educator for the Panama Canal Zone government, who resided in Panama beginning in 1963. He had previously been there for the State Department as early as the 1950s. Dr. Murphy moved back to the United States with his household goods, including his collection of ceramics, in 1979.

Exhibition Information

None known.

Publication Information

None known.

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

At the time this vessel was collected, Dr. Murphy was residing in the Panama Canal Zone, a territory of the United States. It was exported in early 1979, before Panama's 1982 legislation regarding antiquities was in place.

Provenance Information

Early history unknown; with Joann and Gifford Phillips, Santa Fe, NM, ca. 1970–2008; by gift to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., New Haven, Conn., 2008

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 126.

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

N/D

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The attributed tribe was not available for consultation. The object was acquired to make it available to the public and to facilitate scholarly research.

Provenance Information

Early history unknown; with Joann and Gifford Phillips, Santa Fe, NM, ca. 1970–2008; by gift to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., New Haven, Conn., 2008

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 126.

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

N/D

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The attributed tribe was not available for consultation. The object was acquired to make it available to the public and to facilitate scholarly research.

Provenance Information

ca. 1975 private collection, Kobe, Japan. n.d. private Japanese dealer; -2015 collection of Zetterquist Galleries (acquired from private Japanese dealer); 2015 collection of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (purchased from Zetterquist Galleries)

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

The provenance of this object can be traced back to ca. 1975, when it was part of a Japanese collection. Although research into specific dates is ongoing, documentation on file indicates that it was in this collection for over 40 years prior to 2015. This object also demonstrates the importance of this medium and form in the Persian culture when held in dialogue with similar Persian objects in our collection.

Provenance Information

probably 1950s/1960s -1981 collection of Drs. Konrad Bekker (1911-1981) and Sarah Bekker McInteer (1923-2013), members of U.S. State Department and stationed in New Delhi, Yangon (then Rangoon), Berne, and Bangkok in the 1950s and 1960s; 1981 estate of Dr. Konrad Bekker; 1981-2013 collection of Dr. Sarah Bekker McInteer (by descent from husband); 2013 estate of Dr. Sarah Bekker McInteer; (2013 with Sloans & Kenyon Auction House, sold as lot #362 from the "Estate of Konrad and Sarah M. Bekker, Arlington, VA" in the "[Sale] 79[:] June Auction of Asian, Jewelry, & Art, June-14-2013", Chevy Chase, MD); 2013 collection of Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (purchased through Sloans & Kenyon)

Exhibition Information

Sloans & Kenyon Auction House, Chevy Chase, MD, pre-sale exhibition for "[Sale] 79[:] June Auction of Asian, Jewelry, & Art, June-14-2013

Publication Information

"Sale 79 Lot 362 Thai Terracotta Head of Buddha", on http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/thai-terracotta-head-of-buddha,-lamphun,-hariphun-362-c-7e1f149008 (accessed Apr-15-2016).

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 object is believed to have been collected during the 1950s/1960s when the previous owners were on assignment for the U.S. State Department, as per correspondence on file.

Provenance Information

J. J. Lally & Co., New York, NY; 1987 - 2014 C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO, purchased from J. J. Lally & Co.; 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

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

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

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 - 2010 collection of Stella Fessler McCoy, Arlington (sole owner after death of John McCoy); 2010 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

Gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

The donor pledged this object to the museum prior to 2008, as per correspondence dated 2005 on file.