Provenance Information

Archaeological findspot unknown. By 1988, said to have been with Jean-Loup Despras (d. 2001), Galerie Orient-Occident, Paris. 1988-1989, Mark Bronson (Bronson Fine Art), Santa Monica, CA. 1989-2022, Dubroff Collection, acquired from Sotheby’s, New York, (“Antiquities and Islamic Art,” November 29, 1989, Lot 163). 2022, Worcester Art Museum, gift of Lewis and Elaine Dubroff.

Exhibition Information

Exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 1989 to 2022.

Publication Information

Sotheby’s, New York, "Antiquities and Islamic Art," November 29, 1989, Lot 163.

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 object has a known provenance dating to 1989, when it was sold at public auction in New York. It has a credible reported provenance dating back to 1988, for which written documentation has not yet been found. Provenance research is ongoing. Prior to its acquisition by the Worcester Art Museum, it was on public display from 1989 to 2022 at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

This object adds significantly to the Worcester Art Museum’s collection of Egyptian antiquities. As a late Ptolemaic example, it bridges the temporal gulf between the Museum's other two Egyptian sarcophagi, one dated to the New Kingdom, the other to the Roman period. Its richly painted surface, which includes scenes of mummification and the deceased's voyage through the afterlife, adds considerably to the Museum’s presentation of ancient Egyptian beliefs and funerary practices.

Provenance Information

Archaeological provenance not yet documented; prior to 1992, in the possession of Mrs. Eleanor Golden; 1992, lent to the Brooklyn Museum by Mrs. Eleanor Golden; by at least 2007, Caren M. Golden, by descent; in 2007, gift of Caren M. Golden to the Brooklyn Museum.

Exhibition Information

Brooklyn Museum, "Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum," December 20, 2016 - August 27, 2017. Venues: National Museum of Korea, Seoul, South Korea, December 20, 2016 - April 9, 2017; Ulsan Museum, Ulsan, South Korea, May 1, 2017 - August 27, 2017. [Travelled to both venues; mummy did not travel].
Brooklyn Museum, “Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt.” Venues: Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, Santa Ana, CA; March 22, 2014–June 15, 2014; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN, October 18, 2014-January 18, 2015 ["mummy" did not travel].
On view in the Later Egypt Galleries, 1993-10/4/2012.

Publication Information

"Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt", (The Brooklyn Museum of Art, 2013), pp. 142-143, cat. no. 124.
“Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum,” (Seoul: National Museum of Korea and the Brooklyn Museum, 2016), p. 30.

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 object has a known provenance dating to at least 1992 when it was lent to the Brooklyn Museum.

Provenance Information

Archaeological provenance not yet documented; June 5, 1998, purchased at Christie's New York sale 8900, lot 65, by Harold and Mildred Jacobs of New York; 2022, bequest of Mildred Jacobs to the Brooklyn Museum.

Exhibition Information

No known exhibition history.

Publication Information

No known publication history.

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 object has a known provenance dating to at least 1998.

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 June 29, 1978, from Orient-Occident in Paris by Yves A. Courbet

Exhibition Information

The Egyptian art installation, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1999-2017. Prior to the exhibition at LACMA any other exhibition information is unknown.

Publication Information

Unknown

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

According to LACMA and AAMD guidelines, if the provenance of a proposed acquisition does
not clearly indicate that the antiquity in question was outside its country of origin prior to 1970,
the museum may determine to proceed with the acquisition based on an analysis of the
benefits and risks, and in accordance with AAMD’s guidelines for the publication of the object
and the provenance information known about it, with an explanation of the basis for the
museum’s decision. Generally, LACMA believes that, absent evidence of looting or illegal export
of any antiquities, but given incomplete provenance establishing that the objects were outside
their source countries prior to 1970 and prior to any applicable foreign patrimony laws, it is in
LACMA’s and the public interest to accept such objects for the purpose of bringing them into
the public domain, caring for them and publishing them, both for scholarly purposes and for the
purpose of providing notice to any party, including source countries, that may have a claim or
information relating to the provenance of the objects.

Provenance Information

unknown

Exhibition Information

the Mummy Mask of a Man has been on view at LACMA from 1986 until 2010. Prior to the exhibition at LACMA any other exhibition information is unknown.

Publication Information

unknown

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

According to LACMA and AAMD guidelines, if the provenance of a proposed acquisition does not clearly indicate that the antiquity in question was outside its country of origin prior to 1970, the museum may determine to proceed with the acquisition based on an analysis of the benefits and risks, and in accordance with AAMD’s guidelines for the publication of the object and the provenance information known about it, with an explanation of the basis for the museum’s decision. Generally, LACMA believes that, absent evidence of looting or illegal export of any antiquities, but given incomplete provenance establishing that the objects were outside their source countries prior to 1970 and prior to any applicable foreign patrimony laws, it is in LACMA’s and the public interest to accept such objects for the purpose of bringing them into the public domain, caring for them and publishing them, both for scholarly purposes and for the purpose of providing notice to any party, including source countries, that may have a claim or information relating to the provenance of the objects.