Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, September 1984.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
'For I am the Black Jaguar': Shamanic Visionary Experience in Ancient American Art, Michael C. Carlos Museum, September 5, 2012 - January 5, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 82, figure 155.

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

Acquired by museum in 1991.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, September 1984.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
'For I am the Black Jaguar': Shamanic Visionary Experience in Ancient American Art, Emory University, September 5, 2012 - January 5, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Elisa C. Mandell, "Representing Death and Decomposition in Costa Rican Funerary Masks," MA thesis, University of California Los Angeles, 1996.
Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 82, figure 154.

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

Acquired by museum in 1991.

Provenance Information

Ex coll. William (1920-2002) and Carol (1921-2019) Thibadeau, Atlanta, Georgia, purchased from Genevieve Arnold (1928-2005), Atlanta, Georgia, July 12, 1982.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012;
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Rebecca Stone-Miller, Seeing With New Eyes: Highlights of the Michael C. Carlos Museum Collection of Art of the Ancient Americas (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2002), 48, figure 89.

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

Gifted to museum in 1990.

Provenance Information

Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1980 (Note 1); John and Kathi Oppenheimer by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2023.
Note 1: This object appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection printed in November 1980 (date appears on the reverse of the photograph).

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

N/A

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

San Antonio Museum of Art staff began working with and exhibiting objects from the Oppenheimer collection on loan by 1998, a relationship that culminated in the donation of the collection to the museum in 2023. Documents presented to the museum prior to the donation indicate that Herbert Oppenheimer (1911-1989) was active in Mesoamerican art collecting by 1960; documentation also shows that his son, John Oppenheimer, was actively collecting by 1968. This artwork appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection dated to 1980, the earliest photographs of the collection in the museum’s possession.

Provenance Information

Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1980 (Note 1); John and Kathi Oppenheimer by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2023.
Note 1: This object appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection printed in November 1980 (date appears on the reverse of the photograph).

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

N/A

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

San Antonio Museum of Art staff began working with and exhibiting objects from the Oppenheimer collection on loan by 1998, a relationship that culminated in the donation of the collection to the museum in 2023. Documents presented to the museum prior to the donation indicate that Herbert Oppenheimer (1911-1989) was active in Mesoamerican art collecting by 1960; documentation also shows that his son, John Oppenheimer, was actively collecting by 1968. This artwork appears in a photograph of the Oppenheimer collection dated to 1980, the earliest photographs of the collection in the museum’s possession.

Provenance Information

[Royal Athena Gallery, New York, 1990; sold May 30, 1991 to]; W. Benson Harer, Jr., gifted 2022 to; Adina Lei Savin.

Exhibition Information

LACMA permanent collection gallery (1985-1990);
California State University, San Bernardino, January 8 - March 1, 1992; University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, Arizona, October - December 1993; CSUSB, 1994-2004.

Publication Information

Gerry D. Scot III, Temple, Tomb and Dwelling: Egyptian Antiquities from the Harer Family Trust Collection, University Art Gallery, California State University, San Bernardino, 1992, pp.116-7, cat. 71.

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

N/D

Explain why the object fits the exception set forth above

LACMA follows the American Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) 2008 guidelines on the Acquisition of Archeological Material and Ancient Art. Due to the lack of provenance for this object dating prior to 1970, this acquisition in made relying on an exception to AAMD guidelines based on the number, places and circumstances of “independent exhibitions and publications” of this work (see listings below). In addition, AAMD guidelines also allow for the gift of a work of art that had been on long-term loan to the museum prior to 2008.

Provenance Information

Purchased by Victor Lopez, Council General, Venezuelan Ambassador to Mexico from 1950-1955 during his stay. Upon the end of his position as the Council General in 1955, the Lopez family moved from Mexico back to Venezuela, and brought with them his art collection. Victor Lopez's widow moved to New York. Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc. New York, NY. Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection, St. Petersburg FL (2012).

Exhibition Information

On view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg since 2020.

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 provided provenance places the work outside of its Country of Origin, which might have been either Mexico, Guatemala, or Belize, before 1970. The donor saw the work at the Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery in New York city before 2008, when he resolved to donate it to the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, after he acquired it. He acquired it in November of 2011.

Provenance Information

Jose Balderas Sr. New York, NY, (1960s). Jose Balderas Jr. Collection, NY (1980s). Throckmorton Fine Art Inc., New York, NY. Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection (2011).

Exhibition Information

On view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg since 2020.

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 provided provenance places the work outside of its Country of Origin, which could have been either Mexico, Guatemala, or Belize, before 1970. The donor saw the work at Throckmorton Fine Art Gallery in New York city before 2008, when he resolved to donate it to the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, after he acquired it. He acquired it in October of 2011.

Provenance Information

George OCampo, Los Angeles, CA 1980s; Thockmorton Fine Art Inc., New York, NY; Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection, St. Petersburg, FL (2006).

Exhibition Information

On view at the Museum of Fine Arts since 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

Acquired by Mr. Harold Thomas (d. 1984), while he was working as an electrical engineer for General Electric in Mexico between 1930-1938; his son and daughter by descent; Throckmorton Fine Art Inc., New York, NY; Robert L. Drapkin and Chitranee Drapkin Collection, St. Petersburg, FL (2004).

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.