Provenance Information

[Private collector, New Jersey]; Purchase, Nanette Kelekian from Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 1971 (see below); from 1971 and until 2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

Parke-Bernet Galleries, NY, "Antiquities, Egyptian, Western Asiatic, Islamic, Cypriot, Greek, Etruscan, Roman," November 5th, 1971, pg. 1, Lot. 9

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 object qualifies as an exception to the 1970 rule because Nanette Kelekian signed a will prior to 2008 that documents her intent to bequeath the work to the Museum.

Provenance Information

From Palace of Assurnsipal II at Calah (modern Nimrud), Assyria (Iraq) 885BC, Excavated from Nimrud by A.H. Layard in 1849, presented to the Baroness Burdett-Coutts. Acquired by Myron Taylor, 1913. Sold (to? by?) Parke-Bernet 1960-61. Purchased from Sarkisian April 1963.

Exhibition Information

Permanent galleries, Denver Art Museum 1992-2017 and 2021 to present; Stampede: Animals in Art, Denver Art Museum Sept. 2017 to May 2019.

Publication Information

N/A

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

This object (1963.1) has been part of the Denver Art Museum's permanent collection since 1963.

Provenance Information

Purchased by the Rubin-Ladd Foundation in New York from Arnold Lieberman in October 2002

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

N/A

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

N/D

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

Research into ownership by prior donors, dealers and collectors still ongoing. YUAG accepted this gift in order to bring the object into a free, publicly accessible, educational institution, where it could be studied, displayed, and publicized.

Provenance Information

English private collection; sale of the above, Sotheby's, New York, December 8, 2000; William Kelly Simpson, acquired from the above; placed on long-term loan to Yale University Art Gallery, 2001; Yale University Art Gallery, acquired by gift from the above, 2009.

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions,"
https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2010.pdf (accessed 2012).;;Sotheby's, New York, Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art, sale cat. (December 8, 2000), 22.

Colleen Manassa, "Two Unpublished Memphite Relief Fragments in the Yale Art Gallery," Studien Zur Altägyptischen Kultur 30 (2002): 255–67.

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

On long-term loan since 2001

Provenance Information

"Christie's, New York, sale June 5, 1998; William Kelly Simpson, acquired from the above, 1998; placed on long-term loan to Yale University Art Gallery, 1998; Yale University Art Gallery, acquired by gift from the above, 2009.
ex-collection Frederick Schultz, Ancient Art, New York City."

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Pub_Bull_acquisitions_2010.pdf (accessed 2012).;;Christie's New York, New York, Antiquities, sale cat. (June 5, 1998), 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

On long-term loan since 1998

Provenance Information

Purchased by Mr. James W. Alsdorf, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased the object is unknown; however, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object by February, 1983. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. The Alsdorfs lent the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1983. Mrs. Marilynn Alsdorf signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2010 and gave the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019.

Exhibition Information

"Eternal Presence: Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art"–Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York (October 17, 2004–January 9, 2005); Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, Hawaii (January 26–May 29, 2005); Rubin Museum of Art, New York, New York (June 14–September 4, 2005).
The object was on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, in the Indian and Southeast Asian Galleries 128–130 in McKinlock Court from November 22, 1984–August 2, 1994; in Gallery 152 from October 9, 1992–September 5, 2002; and in the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art, gallery 141, November 25, 2008–June 13, 2017.

Publication Information

Pal Pratapaditya with contributions by Stephen Little, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, New York, New York, 1997), p. 293: cat. 99. Kathryn H. Selig Brown, Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art (Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, New York, 2005), p. 35: plate 2.

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 acquisition falls within two exceptions: cumulative facts and circumstances as well as gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008. First, the cumulative facts and circumstances known to the Art Institute of Chicago at the time of the acquisition allowed it to make an informed judgement to acquire the object. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased the object is unknown, but based on the loan history, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object by February 1983. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. The object was included in exhibitions in New York and Honolulu (2004–2005) and has been publicly displayed at the Art Institute of Chicago beginning in 1984, and again between 1992–2002 and 2008–2017. The object has been published in two major catalogs of South Asian art: A Collection Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (1997); and in Eternal Presence: Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art (2005). In addition, the acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it represents one of the most revered objects within Buddhism: the footprints of the Buddha. This early example comes from the Andhra region of southern India, and appears to be the only one of its kind from this region in a public collection in the United States.

Second, the acquisition of the object was by gift and the object was on loan to the Art Institute prior to 2008. The Alsdorfs lent the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1983. Mrs. Alsdorf signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2010.

Provenance Information

Purchased by Mr. James A. Alsdorf, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased this object is unknown; however, Mr. Aldorf acquired the object before his death in April 1990. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Aldorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. Mrs. Marilynn Alsdorf publicly promised the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997, signed a promised gift agreement for the object in 2002, and gave the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019.

Exhibition Information

"A Collection Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection"–The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (August 2–October 26, 1997); "In The Footsteps of Buddha. An Iconic Journey from India to China"–University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Honk Kong, China (September 25–December 15, 1998). The object was on display at the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, in the Alsdorf Galleries of Indian, Southeast Asian, Himalayan and Islamic Art from November 25, 2008–June 13, 2017.

Publication Information

Pratapaditya Pal with contributions by Stephen Little, A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (The Art Institute of Chicago in association with Thames and Hudson, New York, New York, 1997), p. 295, cat. 105 and plate p. 90. Rajeshwari Ghose, In the Footsteps of the Buddha: An Iconic Journey from India to China (University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 1998), p. 146, cat. 4. T.W. Rhys Davids, 1000 Buddhas of Genius (New York: Parkstone International, 2009), p. 122, no. 146.

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 acquisition falls within two exceptions: cumulative facts and circumstances as well as gift or bequest expected or on loan prior to 2008. First, the cumulative facts and circumstances known to the Art Institute of Chicago at the time of the acquisition allowed it to make an informed judgment to acquire the object. The exact date that Mr. Alsdorf purchased this object is unknown; however, Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object before his death in 1990. Attempts to determine from whom Mr. Alsdorf acquired the object were unsuccessful. The object was included in exhibitions in Chicago (1997) and Hong Kong (1998) and has been publicly displayed from 2008 to 2017 at the Art Institute of Chicago. The object has been published in three books on South Asian Art: A Collecting Odyssey: Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection (1997); In the Footsteps of the Buddha (1998); and in 1000 Buddhas of Genius (2009). In addition, the acquisition furthers the representation of the artistic achievements of all civilizations in art museums because it represents a relatively early depiction of the Buddha from the Andhra region of South India of which there are few examples in public collections in the United States.

Second, the acquisition of the object was by gift and the object was promised to the Art Institute prior to 2008. Mrs. Alsdorf publicly promised the object to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1997, and thereafter signed a promised agreement for the object in 2002.

Provenance Information

By 1967, Collection of Vincent Diniacopolous, Montreal (supported by undated photograph in family archive); Diniacopolous family, Montreal, by descent, 1967-1999; their sale, Sotheby’s, June 6, 1999; purchased at Sotheby’s by Elaine and Lewis M. Dubroff; Collection of Elaine and Lewis M. Dubroff, 1999-2017; Gift of Elaine and Lewis M. Dubroff to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017.

Exhibition Information

None.

Publication Information

Sotheby’s New York, June 5, 1999, p. 24 (no. 38), “A Monumental Limestone Head of a Vanquished Foreigner.”

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

This work has provenance confirmed to 1999 when it was sold at auction by Sotheby’s as a work from a private North American collector. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has provenance information back to the early 1960s that is supported by circumstantial evidence. Vincent Diniacopolous (1886-1967) was a Canadian dealer, who was first established shops in Cairo, Paris, and Southern France in 1922 before moving to Montreal in 1951. An early photograph in the family’s archive, now in Concordia University in Canada, suggests that the piece was on the art market as early as 1910s or 1920s, when Diniacopolous was in Egypt. He stopped acquiring pieces already in the early 1960s, due to a serious health problem, and the collection remained in his family following his death in 1967. This imposing head is a collection-changing addition to the Museum’s holdings because it is an architectural element of monumental size from a Ramesside building. During the Ramesside Period (ca. 1295-1070 B.C.), Egypt’s kings concentrated on the construction of public structures and the control of their empire, and our collection does not appropriately reflect this important time.
 

Provenance Information

[David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California], by the late 1950s; private collection, Los Angeles, California, by 1980; [Sotheby’s, New York, Pre-Columbian Art, Nov. 25, 1996, sale no. 6921, lot no. 187, reproduced]; by private sale through Sotheby’s to Assen and Christine Nicolov, Seattle, Washington, Dec. 15, 1997

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

Karl Herbert Mayer, Maya Monuments: Sculptures of Unknown Provenance in the United States, Ramona, 1980, pp.37-38; illustrated in Mayer, Maya Monuments, Supplement I, Berlin, 1987, pl. 34.

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, this Maya panel in two sections was outside its probable country of modern discovery (Mexico) by the late 1950s. Per the provenance published in Karl Herbert Mayer’s Maya Monuments, the panels were in the possession of David Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, California, by the late 1950s. This fact is corroborated by the provenance included in the auction catalogue for Sotheby’s Pre-Columbian Art auction (sale no. 6921) on November 25, 1996: “Primus/Stuart Gallery, Los Angeles, acquired in the late 1950s.” The piece was published twice by Karl Herbert Mayer (1980, 1987). The panels cleared a search conducted by the Art Loss Register. SAM’s Pre-Columbian collection has very few works of scale, and this monumental piece would add a unique example of architectural art and offer an opportunity to present important themes of Maya iconography.

Provenance Information

Purchased from Lucien Viola of the Galerie l'Ibis, who acquired the piece with many others from the Egyptian antiquities inventory of Ernst Kofler. Kofler was a dealer, prinicpally of Egyptian art in the 1950's and 1960's, that Viola had known for many years in Cairo. Documentation dating to 1989 from Kofler states that he had owned for 20 years the group of antiquities, of which the hippo goddess was one, consigned to Viola for sale in 1987.

Exhibition Information

This work was exhibited in connection with the 2014 Brussels Ancient Art Fair

Publication Information

Christies London sale catalogue, April 12, 2000, lot 79, “A Rare Limestone Upper Part of a Statue of Taweret (Tueris).” The work was published (with photograph) in connection with the 2014 Brussels Ancient Art Fair. The work was also published as the signature image for the Galerie L’Ibis online catalog in 2014 and 2015.

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 Metropolitan Museum of Art has provenance information back to the early 1960s that is supported by circumstantial evidence. Ernst Kofler was a Swiss dealer who acquired works in Egypt through his friend, Maguid Sameda, in the 1950s and 1960s. After Mr. Sameda died in the late 1960s, Mr. Kofler stopped collecting Egyptian objects. In 1987, Lucien Viola met and later married Mr. Kofler’s granddaughter. Mr. Kofler transferred Egyptian objects, including this statuette, to Mr. Viola for sale during the late 1980’s. Mr. Kofler signed a certification dated February 25, 1983, declaring that all of the Egyptian reliefs and statues he gave to Mr. Viola for sale had been with Mr. Kofler “for over 20 years in Lausanne, Switzerland.” In 1987, this work was listed in a shipping invoice before its transfer from Mr. Kofler to Mr. Viola Currently this statue is understood to be the earliest known three dimensional representation of a composite deity, a concept that was quintessentially Egyptian for its pantheon. This rare statue depicts an early hippo goddess where human, hippopotamus, crocodile and feline characteristics are combined into a single deity.