Jar with incised decoration

Object Details

• Provenance

  Probably 1975-probably 1986

  Robert Sistrunk (1937-1986), probably purchased in Thailand [1]

  Probably 1986-by 1989

  Ownership information unknown

  By 1989-1990

  John W. Callahan (d. 1990), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  1990-1998

  Estate of John W. Callahan (Peter Miccuci) [3]

  From 1998

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, purchased from the Estate of John W. Callahan [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See memo from the Curator of Ceramics to Milo Beach and the Deputy Director, dated July 7, 1998, copy in object file. In the memo, the Curator of Ceramics says that the object was “Purchased in Thailand in 1975 by Birmingham Museum of Art tour group fund (“Venture Fund”) for the museum, later traded to-or bought by--Robert Sistrunk.”

  In 2022, The Birmingham Museum of Art was unable to identify records of a “Venture Fund.” The Birmingham Museum of Art did confirm that members of their museum community traveled to Southeast Asia in 1975 (and 1974) with the intent to purchase objects. See emails between the Provenance Researcher & Object Historian, National Museum of Asian Art , and the Director of Collections & Exhibitions, Senior Curator, The Marguerite Jones Harbert and John M. Harbert III Curator of Decorative Arts, Birmingham Museum of Art , dated December 12, 2022-December 14, 2022, copy in object file. See also email between the Provenance Researcher & Object Historian, National Museum of Asian Art, and the Director of Collections & Exhibitions, Senior Curator, The Marguerite Jones Harbert and John M. Harbert III Curator of Decorative Arts, Birmingham Museum of Art, with the subject “Birmingham Museum of Art,” dated December 14, 2022, copy in object file.

  In 2022, The Birmingham Museum of Art was unable to identify records of this object having been in their custody.

  In July 1989, John W. Callahan offered this object and eight other pots to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery of Art. After seeing the objects, the Curator of Ceramics became interested in acquiring them. Mr. Callahan died in March 1990 and left his estate to Peter Miccuci of New York, NY.

  Robert Sistrunk (1937-1986) was a New York art dealer from Starkville, Mississippi. As a student, Mr. Sistrunk attended the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa and Mississippi State University, Starkville and began his career as a curator for Early American Glass at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Between 1966 and 1981 Mr. Sistruck established two businesses in New York, NY: Robert Sistrunk, Inc. (active 1966-1968) at 252 East 62 Street and Antaeus Gallery (active 1973-1981) at 962 Madison Avenue. From 1976 until 1980, he acted as advisor for the Asian Art Department at the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama, where he helped to expand their collection of Southeast Asian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese art. Sistruck also gave objects to the Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

  [2] John W. Callahan was an associate of Robert Sistruck and Callahan might have inherited the pots from Sistrunk after Sistrunk died in 1986. See also note 1.

  John W. Callahan (d. 1990) was a curator and collector of Asian art in New York, NY. In 1986, Mr. Callahan and Robert Sistrunk co-curated the exhibition “Lotus are Blooming” at the Wave Hill House Gallery in Bronx, New York, NY.

  [3] See note 1.

  Between November 1989 and December 1998, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery extensively corresponded and met with the Fine Arts Department, Thailand, and the Royal Thai Embassy in Washington, DC, for advice on this acquisition. See object file, especially the “Memo to the File” written by the Curator of Ceramics, dated June 5, 1998.

  [4] See invoice between the Arthur M Sackler Gallery and Peter Miccuci for the purchase of the object, dated June 24, 1998, copy in object file.

  Research Updated November 9, 2022

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Taking Shape: Ceramics in Southeast Asia (April 1, 2007 to December 4, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Robert Sistrunk (1937-1986)

  John W. Callahan (died 1990)

  Estate of John W. Callahan

• Origin

  Possibly Sakon Nakhon province, Northeast Thailand

• Culture

  Ban Chiang culture, 4400-200 BCE

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Smithsonian Unrestricted Trust Funds

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 0s, BCE 1000s

• Name

  Callahan, John W., Sistrunk, Robert, Estate of John W. Callahan

• Place

  Sakon Nakhon province, Thailand

• Topic

  Unglazed, Art, White slip, Pottery, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics, Red pigment, Ban Chiang culture (ca. 4400 BCE - 200 CE), Ban Chiang ware

• Culture

  Ban Chiang culture, Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)