Provenance Information

Acquired by private collector, Connecticut, between 1962-1968; sold by private collector at Sotheby’s, New York, May 14, 1996, lot 176. Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, May 11, 2012, lot 52, to Candace P. Humphreys and W. Michael Humphreys, San Antonio; unsold, Sotheby’s, New York, May 13, 2019, lot 128; Candace P. Humphreys and W. Michael Humphreys, by gift to San Antonio Museum of Art, 2024.

Exhibition Information

N/A

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

Previous sale catalogue and a letter on file from a previous owner attest that the work was first purchased between 1962-1968.

Provenance Information

Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1998 (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 dated to 1998. It was likely acquired well before the photograph was made, as many objects in the Oppenheimer collection were acquired before 1980.

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.

Provenance Information

Oppenheimer Family, San Antonio, Texas, before 1998 (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 dated to 1998. It was likely acquired well before the photograph was made, as many objects in the Oppenheimer collection were acquired before 1980.

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.

Provenance Information

David Bramhall (died 2012), New York, 1990s; sold to Peter David Joralemon, New York, 2000s (inv. no. PCS421); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2017.

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions July 1, 2016–June 30, 2017," https://artgallery.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/bulletin/Pub-Bull-acquisitions-2017.pdf (accessed December 1, 2017).

Elizabeth Kennedy Easby and John F. Scott, Before Cortés, Sculpture of Middle America: A Centennial Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from September 30, 1970 through January 3, 1971, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970), 232–33, no. 199, ill.

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

Purchased in New York, by Peter David Joralemon, New York, late 1970s (inv. no. PCS371); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2008

Exhibition Information

N/A

Publication Information

"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 144.

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

Purchased in New York, by Peter David Joralemon, New York, late 1970s (inv. no. PCS369); given to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2008

Exhibition Information

n/a

Publication Information

"Acquisitions 2009," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2009): 144.

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

[Fine Arts of Ancient Lands, before 1981]; the Mol Collection, New York, until 2021

Exhibition Information

1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Cat. 122 (Exhibition)
2002-2003 On loan to MMA (L.2002.26.1)
2016-2018 On loan to MMA (L.2016.28)

Publication Information

1981 Robicsek, Frances, and Donald Hales. The Maya Book of the Dead. Vessel 120, p. 92, 95-96. (Illustration).
1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Cat. 122 (Exhibition)
1987 Stuart, David. Ten Phonetic Syllables. Research Reports on Ancient Maya Writing 14. Washington, D.C., Center for Maya Research.
1990 Schele, Linda, and David A. Freidel. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc. Plate 122, Fig. 2:4 (Illustration)
1992 Taube, Karl A. The Major Gods of Ancient Yucatan. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 4c. (Illustration)
1993 Schele, Linda, David Freidel, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos. New York, Harper Collins. Fig. 2:23 (Illustration)
1994 Stuart, David, and Stephen Houston. Classic Maya Place Names. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 92 (Illustration)
1998 Reents Budet, Dorie. Elite Maya Pottery and Artisans as Social Indicators. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 8(1):71-89. Fig. 5.2. (Illustration)
1999 Kerr, Justin. K1609. The Maya Vase Database. http://research.mayavase.com
2001 Newsome, Elizabeth A. Trees of Paradise and Pillars of the World. Austin, University of Texas Press. Fig. 2.25 (Illustration)

2003 Looper, Matthew. Lightning Warrior: Maya art and Kingship at Quirigua. Austin, University of Texas Press. Fig. 2.25, 3.10 (Illustration)
2006 Velásquez García, Erik. The Maya Flood Myth and the Decapitation of the Cosmic Caiman. PARI Journal 7(1): 1-10. Fig. 3 (Illustration).
2010 Finamore, Daniel, and Stephen Houston (eds.). Fiery Pool: Maya and the Mythic Sea. Salem, Peabody Essex Museum. Fig. 3.10 (Illustration)
2013 Tokovinine, Alexandre. Place and Identity in Classic Maya Narratives. Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Fig. 30a (Illustration)
2014 Kettunen, Harri and Christophe Helmke. Water in Maya Imagery and Writing. Contributions in New World Archaeology 5: 17-38. Fig. 7 (Illustration)
2015 Steinbach, Penny. Aligning the Jester God: The Implications of Horizontality and Verticality in the Iconography of a Classic Maya Emblem. In Maya Imagery, Architecture, and Activity, Maline D. Werness-Rude and Kaylee R. Spencer, eds., pp. 106-139. Fig. 2.7. (Illustration)
2016 Doyle, James A. Creation Narratives on Ancient Maya Codex-Style Ceramics in the Met’s Collections. Metropolitan Museum Journal, vol. 51, pp. 42-63. (Illustration)
2016 McDonald, J. Andrew. Deciphering the Symbols and Symbolic Meaning of the Maya World Tree. Ancient Mesoamerica 27(2): 333-359. Fig. 1 (a). (Illustration)
2016-2018 On loan to MMA (L.2016.28)
2017 Doyle, James, and Stephen Houston. The Universe in a Maya Plate. Maya Decipherment. 3 April 2017. https://decipherment.wordpress.com/2017/03/04/the-universe-in-a-maya-plate/
2017 Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo. Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya. New Haven, Yale University Press. Fig. 125, 126 (Illustration)

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 work was on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art from March 8, 2002 through July 25, 2003.
In addition, the work has reported provenance to the late 1970s and was first published in 1981. This well-known Maya plate has been very widely published since, having been exhibited in the foundational Blood of Kings exhibition in the 1980s and featured in the catalogue. The work has also been published on Justin Kerr’s website Mayavase.com since the 1990s (photo K1609). The work was on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for display from 2002 – 2003 and from 2016 through 2018.
The work is a unique composition in the “codex-style”, a calligraphic painting tradition that flourished in the seventh and eight centuries in southern Campeche, Mexico, and northern Petén, Guatemala. Examples of this style, such as MMA 1978.412.206, were known to be collected in the 1960s.
Museum’s Definition of Antiquity: Created before the Age of Exploration (beginning in the early 15th century) and buried at one time.

Provenance Information

Wally and Brenda Zollman, 1988; Keith Finello, Los Angeles, Calif; Peter David Joralemon, New York; gift to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., 2018

Exhibition Information

The Face of Ancient America: The Wally and Brenda Zollman Collection of Precolumbian Art, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, December 3, 1988 - February 26, 1989; The Indiana University of Art Museum, Bloomington, June 13 - September 10, 1989.
Long Term Loan, Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame (L1999.008.001): 1999 - 2008.

Publication Information

Lee Allen Parsons, John B. Carlson, and Peter David Joralemon, The Face of Ancient America: The Wally and Brenda Zollman Collection of PreColumbian Art, exh. cat. (Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1988), 26–27, no. 7, ill.;;Michael D. Coe, The Olmec World: Ritual and Rulership, exh. cat. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University, 1995), 146, fig. 1.

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/d

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

[Spencer Throckmorton, New York, until 1984]; Justin and Barbara Kerr, New York, 1984–2014; given to The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Justin and Barbara Kerr in 2014.

Exhibition Information

The work was on loan to, and on display at, The Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1994 until 2004.

Publication Information

Kerr, Justin, The Maya Vase Book: Volume 2. New York, Kerr Associates. p. 211 (1990); Grube, Nikolai, and Werner Nahm, A Census of Xibalba: A Complete Inventory of Way Characters on Maya Ceramics, included in The Maya Vase Book Vol.4, eds. Barbara Kerr and Justin Kerr, pp. 686-715. New York, Kerr, Associates. New York. p. 688 (1994); Coe, Michael, and Justin Kerr, The Art of the Maya Scribe. New York, Harry N. Abrams. p. 156-157; Fig. 127 (1998); Knowlton, Timothy, The Stone-in-Hand Glyph (1999); Mora-Marin, David, The Structure of the Dedicatory Formula in Classic Lowland Mayan Texts: A Preliminary Typology, p. 28 (1999); Carrasco, Michael David, and Kerry Hull, The Cosmogonic Symbolism of the Corbeled Vault in Maya Architecture. Mexicon XXIV: 26-32. p. 27; Fig. 5 (2002); Zender, Marc, Glyphs for “Handspan” and “Strike” in Classic Maya Ballgame Texts. The PARI Journal 4(4):1-9. Fig 6, p. 5 (2004); Carrasco, Michael David, The Mask Flange Iconographic Complex: The Art, Ritual, and History of a Maya Sacred Image. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Art History, University of Texas at Austin. p. 456; Fig. B.7 (2005); Boot, Erik What Happened on the Date 7 Manik’ 5 Who? An Analysis of Text and Image on Kerr Nos. 0717, 7447, and 8457. Wayeb Notes 21. p. 3 (2006); Houston, Stephen, David Stuart, and Karl Taube, The Memory of Bones: Body, Being, and Experience among the Classic Maya. Austin, University of Texas Press. p. 49 Fig. 1.52 (a) (2006); Bassie-Sweet, Karen, Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press. p. 146-147 (2008); Schoenmakers, Paul, Drawing, After Rollout of Vase Ker 2068. Wayeb Drawing Archive (2008); Braakhuis, H.E.M., The Tonsured Maize God and Chicome-Xochitl as Maize Bringers and Culture Heroes: A Gulf Coast Perspective. Wayeb Notes No. 32, Fig. 5 (2009).

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 work has provenance to 1983. The work has been published several times in academic journals and books, first in 1990 and including in the recent volume by three of the leading scholars in the field, entitled Memory of Bones (2006). The work has been published on the website Mayavase.com since January 1999 (acc. No. 2068), a site created by the donors and developed in concert with the Foundation for the Advancement in Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. The work was on loan to The Metropolitan Museum of Art for display from 1994 through 2004. This work is a spectacular example of a “codex-style” vessel showing a mythological creation scene. These rare vessels are among the few testaments to the superb calligraphic style of Maya artists and scribes. This vessel of exceptional quality will significantly enhance the Metropolitan Museum’s limited collection of Maya ceramics.