Provenance Information

Ex coll. Laurence (1926-1995) and Cora (1931-2023) Witten, United States, possibly purchased from Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, ca. 1960-1985.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - February 6, 2017
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, February 13, 2017 - March 13, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - Present

Publication Information

To our knowledge, this object has never been published.

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 1992.

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 Enrique Vargas (Enrique Vargas Alfaro) (1915-2008), San Jose, Costa Rica, March 2, 1973.

Exhibition Information

MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012

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), 134, figure 295.

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 April 1973.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 6, 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 - January 9, 2017
Desire and Consumption: The New World in the Age of Shakespeare, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 9, 2017
MCCM Permanent Collection Gallery, April 14, 2017 - 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), 90, figure 174ab.
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 73, figure 4.2.

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 May 1984.

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), 90, figure 173ab.
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 73, figure 4.2.

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 June 1969.

Exhibition Information

Pre-Columbian Art from the Collections of Paul A. Clifford and William C. Thibadeau, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, February 13 - April 4, 1971
Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012

Publication Information

Pre-Columbian Art from the Collections of Paul A. Clifford and William C. Thibadeau (Atlanta: High Museum of Art, 1971), plate XIX.
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), 134, figure 296.

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 October 1972.

Exhibition Information

Coca-Cola's Cultural Sensation - Latin America, Coca-Cola Company Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia, September 2 - November 26, 2003

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), 134, figure 294.

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 June 1970.

Exhibition Information

Pre-Columbian Art from the Collections of Paul A. Clifford and William C. Thibadeau, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia, February 13 - April 4, 1971 (by repute)
Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - 2001
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 13, 2002 - June 2012
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - March 18, 2019
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, July 2, 2019 - 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), 134, figure 293.

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, acquired late 1969 or purchased February 1971.

Exhibition Information

Seeing with New Eyes: Pre-Columbian Art from the Thibadeau Collection, Emory University Museum of Art and Archaeology, March 4 - October 13, 1992
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, May 11, 1993 - February 1994
MCCM Permanent Collection Galleries, November 1994 - 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, Emory University, September 5, 2012 - January 5, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 9, 2013 - Present

Publication Information

Michael C. Carlos Museum Handbook (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 1996), 76.
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), 70-74, figure 131.
Rebecca Stone-Miller, "Human-Animal Imagery, Shamanic Visions, and Ancient American Aesthetics," RES 45 (2004): 51, figure 4.
Margaret Young Sanchez, Costa Rican Masterpieces (Denver: Denver Art Museum, 2010).
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 68.
Rebecca Stone, The Jaguar Within: Shamanic Trance in Ancient Central and South American Art (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011), 95 - 97, figures 5.1 - 5.5.
Laura Wingfield, "Barely There but Still Transcendent: Ancient Nicaraguan and Costa Rican Dress, Regalia, and Adornment, ca. 800 BCE - 300 CE in Greater Nicoya," in Wearing Culture: Dress and Regalia in Early Mesoamerica and Central America, edited by Heather Orr and Matthew G. Looper, 29-59 (Niwot: University Press of Colorado, 2014), 35, figure 2.10.
Laura M. Wingfield, "Greenstone Axe to Gold Eagle Pendant: The Sex Change of Costa Rica's Symbol of National Pride," in Dressing the Part: Power, Dress, Gender, and Representation in the Pre-Columbian Americas, ed. Sarahh E.M. Scher and Billie J.A. Follensbee (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2017), 338, figure 9.7b.
Colin McEwan and John W. Hoopes, Pre-Columbian Art from Central America and Colombia at Dumbarton Oaks (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2021), 140, figure 37.
Maria Masucci and John W. Hoopes, "Evaluating Pre-Columbian Contact between Ecuador and Costa Rica: A Ceramic Approach," in Waves of Influence: Pacific Maritime Networks Connecting Mexico, Central America, and Northwestern South America, ed. Christopher Beekman and Colin McEwan (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 2022), 313, figure 9.9b.

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.