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.

Provenance Information

Collected by Ray McKimm, said to have been taken from graves exposed during the construction of the Inter American Highway, 1943. Ex coll. James L. Taylor, Georgia.

Exhibition Information

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), 128, figure 267.

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 1979.

Provenance Information

(Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1974 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1996-2017

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

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

Collection of Russell Bradford Hicken [1927-2003], Miami, FL; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1987 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1996-2017

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

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

(Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1973 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1997-2017

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

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

"Collection of Robert J. Stroessner, Denver, CO; Purchase Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, September 1971 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Dallas Art Museum, February 1990- March 1992 and to the Denver Art Museum, starting March 1992"

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1993-2017

Publication Information

Abel-Vidor, Suzanne, et al. Principales Tipos Ceramicos de la Gran Nicoya. 13 (1/2):35-327. Vinculos. San Jose, Costa Rica: Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. 1987., Lange, Frederick W., Payson D. Sheets, Anibal Martinez, and Suzanne Abel-Vidor, eds. The Archaeology of Pacific Nicaragua. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. 1991.

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 Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

Spencer Throckmorton (Throckmorton Fine Art, Inc.), New York; Purchase Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver CO, 1981 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017 [1] Loaned to the Denver Art Museum starting 1992

Exhibition Information

On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1992-1997

Publication Information

Abel-Vidor, Suzanne, et al. Principales Tipos Ceramicos de la Gran Nicoya. 13 (1/2):35-327. Vinculos. San Jose, Costa Rica: Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. 1987., Lange, Frederick W., Payson D. Sheets, Anibal Martinez, and Suzanne Abel-Vidor, eds. The Archaeology of Pacific Nicaragua. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press. 1991., Young-Sanchez, Margaret (editor). Nature and Spirit: Ancient Costa Rican Treasures in the Mayer Collection at the Denver Art Museum. Denver Art Museum. 2010.

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 Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

"Purportedly collection of Enrique Vargas-Alfaro [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica, by 1964. (Harry A. Franklin Gallery), Beverly Hills, CA, by 1972; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1972 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On exhibit in ""Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast."" Denver Museum of Natural History, June 23, 1990-May 31, 1991; On loan to the Denver Art Museum starting 1992"

Exhibition Information

"Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast." Denver Museum of Natural History, June 23, 1990-May 31, 1991; On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1993-2017

Publication Information

Canouts, Veletta, and Juan Vicente Guerrero. Vallejo and Jicote Ceramic Codes: The Case for Stylistic Analogy in the Late Polychrome Period. In "Costa Rican Art and Archaeology: Essays in Honor of Frederick R. Mayer," edited by Frederick W. Lange, pp.215-259. University of Colorado, Boulder. 1988., Lange, Frederick W., ed. Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast. Johnson Publishing Co., Boulder, CO. 1990., Leibsohn, Dana. The Costa Rican Effigy Head Tradition. In "Costa Rican Art and Archaology: Essays in Honor of Frederick R. Mayer," edited by Frederick W. Lange, pp. 133-160. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado. 1988.

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 Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

Collection of Russell Bradford Hicken [1927-2003], Miami, FL., by 1987; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, 1987 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On exhibit, ""Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast"" Denver Museum of Natural History, June 23, 1990-May 31, 1991; On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

Exhibition Information

"Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast." Denver Museum of Natural History, June 23, 1990-May 31, 1991; On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1993-2017

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

The Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.

Provenance Information

(Enrique Vargas-Alfaro) [1915-2008], San Jose, Costa Rica and Atlanta, GA; Purchased by Frederick R. [1928-2007] and Jan Mayer, Denver, CO, October 23, 1971 [1]; Gifted to the Denver Art Museum, 2017
[1] On loan to the Denver Art Museum, 1992

Exhibition Information

"Ancient Treasures of Costa Rica: Art and Archaeology of the Rich Coast." Denver Museum of Natural History, June 23, 1990-May 31, 1991; On display in Museum's Pre-Columbian Galleries, 1993-2017

Publication Information

Abel-Vidor, Suzanne, et al. Principales Tipos Ceramicos de la Gran Nicoya. 13 (1/2):35-327. Vinculos. San Jose, Costa Rica: Museo Nacional de Costa Rica. 1987., Lange, Frederick W. Precolombian Jade: New Geological and Cultural Interpretations. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press. 1993.

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 Mayer collection of Costa Rican art distinguishes itself from other national and international collections for the depth and breadth of cultural and artistic styles represented therein. Assembled beginning in 1966, the objects represent the developmental arc of Costa Rican ceramics, metallurgy and stone carving and stands as the most comprehensive collection of Central American material culture outside of the region. Mr. and Mrs. Mayer began lending works in this gift to the Denver Art Museum in 1992 and since loan of this work in 1992, it has been on continuous display until 2017 in the Art of the Ancient Americas galleries. This gift complements the collection of Costa Rican material, also gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Mayer with the express purpose that the objects remain together in order for scholars to appreciate fully the development of Central American art, allow work to be put in the public domain, and facilitate further research.