Mayan mask removed from auction in Barcelona

The auction house Templum Fine Art Auctions removed a Mayan mask from the catalog of the auction it held yesterday in Barcelona. The piece was “available for the pertinent efforts that the Mexican government wants to carry out,” he informed The Day Florencia Bianco, on behalf of the Spanish company.

The offer of the piece in Spain, which this newspaper reported last Monday, caused the “disapproval and rejection” of the federal Ministry of Culture which, through a letter signed by its owner, Claudia Curiel, urged to stop the sale of the property, “taking into consideration that it represents an invaluable legacy of ancestral cultures and national history.”

According to the document, the National Institute of Anthropology and History determined that the object “is property of the nation, inalienable and imprescriptible, and its export has been prohibited since 1827, so its presence outside the national territory derives from an illicit extraction.”

Templum Fine Art withdrew from offering the piece from lot 823 in its Grand Spring Auction of Old Masters, Fine Art and Jewelry online catalogue.

After receiving the notification, “he immediately contacted us to find out what piece it was and offer to withdraw it from the auction voluntarily,” said Bianco.

He added that when the Mexican authorities identified the property, “it was immediately removed and made available for the pertinent steps that the Mexican government wants to carry out directly with the owner of the piece for its reincorporation into the Mexican national heritage, as appropriate.”

Bianco expressed that it is now in the hands of “the relevant authorities to trace the work in question to determine origins, acquisition process and other information necessary to resolve the case.”

He clarified that the auction house accepts pieces from individuals “verifying their quality and authenticity according to the opinion of experts and our director, Carles Viñas. The collection of these, which make up the list of Mexican heritage, is vast and we remain available for any contribution, ratification or information that facilitates their identification for possible restitution.”

The Mayan mask in question, according to a copy of the document sent to Templum in the possession of The Dayit is “an anthropomorphic figure made of rock, using percussion carving techniques, abrasion wear, carved grooves and polishing. The piece represents only the head of a character with cranial deformation, wide nose, slanted eyes and open mouth, with a grim expression.

“Based on the formal and stylistic characteristics observed in the available images, it is concluded that it is a movable archaeological monument, belonging to the cultural heritage of the nation, in the Teotihuacan style, manufactured in the Mexican Central Highlands between the years 200 and 650.”

According to information from the auctioneer, for some time it belonged to the American sculptor Jacob Epstein, who later became a British citizen. The artist is known for creating Oscar Wilde’s tomb with Eric Gill. Epstein was at the forefront of interest in “primitive” art. He had more than a thousand pieces in his collection.

The withdrawal of this object adds to cases such as those of an archaeological piece removed from the catalog of the sale organized by the Zacke gallery in Austria, in March 2022, and the suspension in France of the offer of 13 pieces in the auction that the firm Boscher-Enchéres carried out on December 4, 2023.