Provenance Information

Nelson Bunker Hunt (1926–2014), Dallas, Texas, by 1991; sale, Sotheby’s, New York, June 19, 1991, lot 164. [Sale, Stack’s Galleries, New York, December 9, 1992, lot 3065 (probably unsold)] [see note 1]. Sale, Coin Galleries, New York, July 14, 1993, lot 40. Sale, Heritage Auctions, Dallas, January 8, 2018, lot 32015. Sale, Heritage Auction, August 19, 2021, lot 33008. Sale, Classical Numismatic Group, October 8, 2022, lot 155; sold to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2022

Note 1: According to the Stack's auction archive, the lot remains unlisted in their "prices realized' list.

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

N/A

Provenance Information

Richard Ettinghausen [1906-1979], Princeton, 1950s-1960s, by purchase; Elizabeth Ettinghausen, Princeton, 1979, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 2018, by bequest.

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

Richard Ettinghausen traveled in the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s. This combined with the method of wrapping these works in newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s substantiate that they were collected and in the US prior to 1970. Research is ongoing for further verification.

Provenance Information

Richard Ettinghausen [1906-1979], Princeton, 1950s-1960s, by purchase; Elizabeth Ettinghausen, Princeton, 1979, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 2018, by bequest.

Exhibition Information

None known

Publication Information

None known

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

Richard Ettinghausen traveled in the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s. This combined with the method of wrapping these works in newspapers from the 1950s and 1960s substantiate that they were collected and in the US prior to 1970. Research is ongoing for further verification.

Provenance Information

Sotheby’s New York, lot 317, Unsold (December 10, 1999); Swiss Private Collection (by 2000); F.A.C. Kunsthandel (Wolfgang Wilhelm), Frankfurt, Germany, sold to Barbara S. Robinson (2007); Barbara S. Robinson, Cleveland, OH (2007-2023); gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art (2023)

Exhibition Information

None

Publication Information

Sotheby’s New York, Antiquities and Islamic Works of Art, lot 317 (December 10, 1999).

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

An exception to 1970 can be made for this object because it was expected as a gift or bequest prior to 2008. This is confirmed by a letter from the attorney of Barbara S. Robinson (now in museum files) attesting to Mrs. Robinson’s intent, memorialized in estate planning documents by 2007, to donate her collection of antiquities to the Cleveland Museum of Art following her death. This is the first Roman silver bowl in the CMA, and only the second Roman silver vessel.

Provenance Information

By 2012, Anonymous Donor, New York; [1] Gift to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia, September 19, 2012. [2]

[1] Per the donor, the objects were purchased from a variety of dealers in the years 1983-1989. The donor reports that they were purchasing from the following dealers within this time frame, although this cannot be further verified: Jack Ogden, London; Ariadne Galleries, New York; Mele Galleries, New York; Harmer-Rooke Galleries, New York; Pyramide Galleries, Paris.

[2] Information in VMFA Curatorial and Registration files.

Exhibition Information

No information is currently available.

Publication Information

No information is currently available.

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 donor of this object acquired a number of works of ancient jewelry and other small objects on the art market between ca. 1983 and ca. 1989. VMFA decided to make an exception to the AAMD guidelines in order to bring these objects into a free, publicly accessible, educational institution, where they could be studied, displayed and publicized. The works represent a broad sampling of gems, encompassing a representative collection of intaglios spanning the chronology and cultures of the Mediterranean. The donor of this object had made donations to the VMFA since 1982.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. Richard Wagner (1907-2002), West Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1968-1991, purchased Essex Arts, New York, December 1968. Purchased by MCCM from Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, New York.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, November 17, 2014 - October 31, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, November 23, 2021 - Present

Publication Information

To our knowledge, this object has never been published.

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

We were given letters from previous collectors about ownership. The Carlos continues to conduct provenance research on this object.

Provenance Information

With Joseph Coplin and Robin Beningson [Antiquarium, Ltd.], New York, New York, from at least 1996.

Exhibition Information

Monsters, Demons & Winged Beasts: Composite Creatures in the Ancient World, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 5 - June 19, 2011;
Michael C. Carlos Museum Morgens West Foundation Galleries of Ancient Near Eastern Art, November 10, 2018 - Present

Publication Information

Antiquarium, Ltd., Zoologica (1996), 20.

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

Object had been published 12 years before coming to museum. The Carlos continues to conduct provenance research on this object and all of our collections.

Provenance Information

Said to be ex private collection, United Kingdom, acquired during diplomatic service in Sudan, early 1970s. Ex coll. Michael Hedqvist [Phoenix Ancient Art SA], Geneva, Switzerland, acquired from Swiss art market, 2001. With Joseph Coplin and Robin Beningson [Antiquarium, Ltd.], New York, New York, from 2005. Purchased by MCCM from Antiquarium, Ltd.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, 2006 - December 1, 2014;
African Cosmos: Stellar Arts, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 31 - June 21, 2015;
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, July 8, 2015 - Present

Publication Information

Ancient Treasures IV (New York: Antiquarium Ltd, 2006), 6.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 26.
Marjorie M. Fisher, et al., Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2012), 126, figure 83.

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

Object was out of source country before export laws and regulations were put in place. The Carlos continues to conduct provenance research on this object and all of our collections.

Provenance Information

[Until 1974, with Michel E. Abemayor, New York]; 1975-77, Michel Abemayor’s Estate; acquired in 1977, purchased by Nanette B. Kelekian from the Estate of M. Abemayor; 1977-2020, collection of Nanette B. Kelekian, New York.

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 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 object to the Museum.

Provenance Information

Leon Pomerance, New York, probably mid-1960s to 1988; The Merrin Gallery, New York, 1988; William B. Ziff, Jr., New York, 1988 to 2019

Exhibition Information

Yale University Art Gallery, Weaving and the Social World, 3000 Years of Ancient Andean Textiles, May 20 to September 1, 2016

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 disk’s first reported owner, Leon Pomerance, died in 1988; a dated, redacted invoice in the museum’s files indicates that, in 1988, the Merrin Gallery sold the disk to a private collector. (This collector was probably William B. Ziff, Jr., since the disk appeared in a 2016 exhibition at Yale University based on Mr. Ziff’s collection.) The date on which Mr. Pomerance acquired the disk is unknown, but the period of probable acquisition can be inferred. Mr. Pomerance played a leadership role in the Archaeological Institute of America starting in the late 1960s—he served on the Institute’s board and as president of its New York chapter (Leon Pomerance Papers, University of Florida, http://www.library.ufl.edu/spec/manuscript/guides/pomerance.htm). Given the Institute’s strong stand on post-1970 collecting, Mr. Pomerance is unlikely to have acquired antiquities lacking a pre-1970 provenance after 1970. In addition, strong circumstantial evidence supports the conclusion that the disk left Peru before 1970. That is, the disk probably belongs to a large group of metal objects that includes approximately 25 similar silver repousse disks; the group, discovered on Peru’s north coast, is described by Alan Lapiner in his book Pre-Columbian Art of South America (Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1976, note 600, p. 447). At least 41 other objects attributed to the group are now in public collections; of them, 36 were acquired in the mid to late 1960s, with one outlier in 1970. Acquisition dates of the remaining 5 require further research but it is likely that they, too, were originally sold in the 1960s, based on the dealers through whose hands they passed or other evidence. Ancient Andean metalsmiths created one of the world’s most distinguished traditions in silver and gold. The museum’s holdings so far include no exhibition-worthy examples of the Chimú accomplishment in metal. Thus, the disk will fill a significant gap and allow the museum to represent Chimú art more completely to the public.