Provenance Information

Purchased by Major Elmer McBryde c. 1947 from another army officer, by decent to daughter, Diana McBride-Farley; Throckmorton Fine Art Inc., New York, NY: Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection, St. Petersburg, FL (2003).

Exhibition Information

On view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg since October 2021.

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

Promised gift prior to 2008.

Provenance Information

Arte Primitivo, December 2006; Donald Brenwasser; Austen-Stokes Ancient Americas Foundation, to 2016; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Three Winged Pendants," http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1994.35.606 (accessed 09/25/2015).;;"Acquisitions July 1, 2015–June 30, 2016," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2016.pdf (accessed December 1, 2016).

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

N/D

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Gift from Foundation in 2016, no information as to how long it was in the Foundation's collections

Provenance Information

Collected by Supreme Court Magistrate Maximo Acosta Soto, Costa Rica, prior to 1958; Collection of Haig Kurdian, Wichita, KS, 1959-2016, acquired from above, following registration with the National Museum, San José, and the procurement of the appropriate export license (now lost; another license for the non-jade component of the Soto collection is in Kurdian’s possession)

Exhibition Information

January 1969-March 1969, Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego – Kurdian Collection of Pre-Columbian Jades

Publication Information

Keitzmann, Armin. 9 February 1969. “Pre-Columbian Jade Items on Exhibit.” Exhibition review San Diego Union. Five of the objects illustrated.

Sotheby’s. 2014. African, Oceanic and Pre-Columbian Art Including Property from the Krugier and Lasansky Collections (sale N09146, 16 May 2014). Ten items of the proposed group illustrated

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 these objects were outside their probable country of modern discovery before 1970. It has been difficult to prove with explicit documentation that each individual item of this large collection was part of the Acosta Soto collection and exported from Costa Rica under the 1959 license, or that they were included in the 1969 San Diego exhibition. However, we consider this highly likely given the consistency in the listed scale and scope of the collection. Research has involved consultation with the Costa Rican Minister of Culture, archivists at the San Diego Museum of Art (formally the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego), and Mr. Kurdian’s related papers, letters, etc.

Provenance Information

1975 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

Joan Hartman-Goldsmith, Chinese Jade (Hong Kong and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986), pp. 60-61, plate 28.

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; 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 1985 - 1986 Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, England; 1986 - 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

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

1980 - 2014
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

Bluett & Sons Ltd., London, England;

1983
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

William L. McKim (1894–1977) and Charlotte B. McKim (1899–1977), Palm Beach, Florida;

1979/11/02
At auction, "Important Chinese Works of Art and Chinese Paintings," Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, November 2, 1979, lot no. 3;

C. C. Johnson Spink (1916–1992) and Edith J. Spink (1921–2011), St. Louis, MO;

2014
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of C.C. Johnson and Edith J. 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.