Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2012
The Acquisitions
Art of the Americas: July 2011–June 2012
Carved whale
about 1870
Length x width: 198.1 x 50.8 cm (78 x 20 in.)
Red cedar, paint
Classification: Wood Carvings / Turnings
Culture: Native American (Tsimshian)
Object Place: British Columbia, Canada
Accession number: 2012.152
Provenance/Ownership History: By the 1970s, Robert Stopel, London; 1970s, sold by Stopel to Merton Simpson, New York; October 23, 1982, sale (consigned by Merton Simpson), Sotheby’s, New York, lot 175, unsold; January 18, 2011, sale (consigned by Merton Simpson), Christie’s, New York, lot 147, unsold; 2011, sold by Simpson to John Molloy Gallery, New York; 2012, sold by Molloy to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 25, 2012)
Museum purchase with funds donated by The Karolik Society