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 2020.

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

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 of 2020.

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

Reportedly Collection of Jorge Castillo (d. 1977), Guatemala City; Reportedly Collection of David Bramhall, New York; [Judith Small Nash, Woodstock, NY, until 1990]; Steven Kossak, The Kronos Collections, New York, until 2015; Gift of Steven Kossak to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2015.

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

The work was reportedly in the collection of Jorge Castillo, a well-known collector of Maya art in Guatemala City who was active from the 1960s until his death in 1977. He left the majority of his collection to the Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala City, where it was catalogued between 1975 and 1978 in preparation for the formation of a museum, now known as the Museo Popol Vuh. This work was not catalogued and added to the collection of the Museo Popol Vuh, and it is possible it was sold by Castillo before he had made plans for the formation of the museum.

Judith Small Nash sold the work in 1990 to the current owner. Ms. Nash may have acquired the work from David Bramhall (and recalls that he may have acquired it from the Castillo family). Mr. Bramhall was an active dealer in the 1960s and 1970s and reportedly had a long-term relationship with the Castillo family going back to the 1950s. The Judith Small Nash Gallery was one of the leading vendors of Precolumbian and Native American from the 1960s until the owner’s retirement in the 2000s.

Among the corpus of Maya crown jewels, this work is among the top five ever found, and the only one not currently in a public collection. The work is exceptional for its relative size, the beauty of the apple-green jade (the shade most preferred by the Maya), and the outstanding sculptural qualities of the work. The richly volumetric carving sets this work apart from known, flatter compositions. This gift enhances the Metropolitan Museum’s ability to convey the splendor of Mayan royal regalia to visitors.

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

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 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

Stoetzer, Inc., between 1973-1974 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, September 26, 2009, by purchase; given to John G. Bourne Foundation, 2009 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

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 promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, January 4, 2001, by purchase; given to John G. Bourne Foundation, 2001 [1]; given to Walters Art Museum, 2013.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

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 promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Private collection, California; Ron Messick Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, November 5, 2000, by purchase.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

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 promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Harry Franklin Gallery, California [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, April 25, 1978, by purchase (authenticated by Gordon Ekholm).

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 promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Throckmorton Fine Art, New York [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, May 13, 1993, 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 promised gift began in April 2005.

Provenance Information

Economos Works of Art [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; John G. Bourne, April 28, 1994, by purchase; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 2017.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibitions.

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 promised gift began in April 2005.