Unknown Central and South American
Head of a Ruler from an Incensario

Public Domain

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Artist Unknown Central and South American

CultureMaya

Titles

Head of a Ruler from an Incensario

Date600–900 AD

Possible placeBelize, Mesoamerica

Possible placeMexico, Mesoamerica

Possible placeGuatemala, Mesoamerica

MediumEarthenware with polychrome pigment

DimensionsOverall: 9 7/8 × 5 × 3 1/2 in. (25.1 × 12.7 × 8.9 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Alfred C. Glassell, Jr. Accessions Endowment Fund

Object number2013.85

Current Location

The Caroline Wiess Law Building

205M Wiess Gallery

On view

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Department

Art of the Indigenous Americas

Object Type

CERAMICS

ProvenanceJohn Huston Collection (1906–1987) Los Angeles, 1950s; [Hélène Kamer, Paris, 1977]; Barbier-Mueller Collection, Geneva, until 2013; [Sotheby's, Paris, "Collection Barbier-Mueller Art Précolombien," March 22, 2013, lot 162]; purchased by MFAH, 2013.
Exhibition History- Soleure, Kunstmuseum, Exotische Kunst aus der Barbier-Müller Sammlung: Amerika, Afrika, Südsee, May 2-November 20, 1981
- Geneva, Musée Barbier-Mueller, Art de l’Amérique précolombienne, Autumn, 1981 Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André, L’homme et ses masques: chefs-d’oeuvre des musées Barbier-Mueller, Geneva and Barcelona, May 23-August 28, 2005
- Geneva, Musée Barbier-Mueller, January 30-March 24, 1992, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Fondation Maeght, April 11-June 15, 1992, Barcelona, Fondation la Caixa, November 25, 1992-January 24, 1993, Art millénaire des Amériques: de la découverte à l’admiration, 1492-1992
- Lisbon, Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Arte pré-colombiana da colecção Barbier-Mueller, March 23-June 4, 1995 Munich, Haus der Kunst, Kunst über Grenzen: die Klassische Moderne von Cézanne bis Tinguely und die Weltkunst – aus der Schweiz gesehen, March 7-May 30, 1999
- Barcelona, Museu Barbier-Mueller d’Art Precolombí, October 30-April, 2004, Lausanne, Fondation de l’Hermitage, June 25-October 24, 2004, Trésors de la céramique précolombienne du Museo Barbier-Mueller de Arte Precolombino de Barcelona
- Barcelona, Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, Picasso, l’homme aux mille masques au musée Barbier-Mueller d’Art précolombien de Barcelone, April 6-August 31, 2006
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Verso: BMG502•6

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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