Exploring Art of the Ancient Americas: The John Bourne Collection

This stunning new volume presents full-colour plates, details, groupings and comparative images of approximately 147 Pre-Columbian works (spanning 1200 B.C. to A.D. 1530) from the collection assembled by John G. Bourne in the 1950s and 1960s. It features fine examples of painted earthenware vessels and figures, carved basalt effigies, jewellery and vessels from Mesoamerica, Central America and Andean America covering a host of civilizations, including Teotihuacán, Olmec, Maya, Andean, Aztec and Mixtec.

In addition to John Bourne’s fascinating account of his first expedition to Chiapas in 1945 and 1946, which started his passion for collecting, there is an extensive essay on authentication, a significant part of the study of pre-Columbian art. Each of the three geographical sections of the main catalogue opens with an introductory text on the art, culture and ceremonial features of that region, followed by discursive entries accompanying each work.