16 Masterworks from The Morton D. May Collection in Saint Louis Art Museum

 

Male Bust | New Georgia
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 
 

16 Masterworks from The Morton D. May Collection in Saint Louis Art Museum

 

Curated by Steven G. Alpert

 
 

Morton May was charming, irrepressible, and a thoroughly engaged art collector. His family's St. Louis based May Department Stores were justly famous in an era of personal service when family names and merchant princes were at the helm of America's most famous privately-owned department stores.

Over forty years, Mr. May gathered a prodigious collection of American and European paintings as well as art from many non-Western traditions. He also made brilliant forays into undervalued areas, and a significant number of his former pieces are now highly regarded as rare and desirable. The Saint Louis Museum of Art's collection of Morton May's treasures includes many worthy examples of Meso-American, Pre-Columbian, Polynesian, and Melanesian creations -- with an accent on Oceanic art.

Morton May's first encounter with Melanesian art is recorded in the introduction to his collection bequeathed to the St. Louis Museum of Art. After meeting John Carlbach in 1960, he noted that "it was as if a whole new world of art had opened to me, and I became convinced that art from the Melanesian islands was of the highest quality and should be ranked with that of the other great art producing areas of the world."

In this feature, we spotlight a fine Maori war canoe stern post (taurapa) and a large and impressive tiki figurehead from a fishing canoe. From the Americas, there is a mesmerizing Mixteca-Pueblo jaguar pectoral, a classic Veracruz yoke, and a Kwakwaka'waka (Kwakiutl) Dzunukwa or wild man mask from Alert Bay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. A large and well-carved door jamb from New Caledonia is also impressive. There is also a fine Solomon Islands torso in the May collection that brings a smile as I acquired it long ago when I was a young student in New Zealand.

Steven G. Alpert, founder of Art of the Ancestors

 
 
 

1

 
 

War Canoe Sternpost | Taurapa

 
 

War Canoe Sternpost | Taurapa
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Maori

Australasia, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Oceania

Probably early to mid-19th century

Wood

Bequest of Morton D. May

1531:1983

 
 
 

2

 
 

Dzunukwa Mask

 
 

Dzunukwa Mask
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl)

Alert Bay, British Columbia, Canada, North and Central America

c.1870

Wood with pigment, human hair, bear fur, seal skin, raffia, cloth, and metal nails

Gift of Morton D. May

269:1982

 
 
 

3

 
 

Figure | Adu Siraha Salawa

 

Figure | Adu Siraha Salawa
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Nias

Sumatera Utara province, Indonesia, Oceania

19th–20th century

Wood, wax, dye, and glue

Bequest of Morton D. May

1549:1983

 
 

4

 
 

Jaguar Pectoral

 

Jaguar Pectoral
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Mixteca-Puebla

Tehuacán, Puebla state, Mexico, North, and Central America

c.1200–1400

Stone, shell, and wood

Gift of Morton D. May

163:1979

 
 
 

5

 
 

Figure | Uli

 
 

Figure | Uli
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 

Madak

Near Mesi village, New Ireland province, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Oceania

Before 1913

Wood, pigment, plant fiber, shell, resin

Bequest of Morton D. May

1526:1983

 
 
 

6

 
 

Figure | Akua Ka’ai

 
 

Figure | Akua Ka’ai
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Hawaiian

Hawaii, Polynesia, United States, Oceania

18th century

Wood and pigment

Bequest of Morton D. May

1532:1983

 
 
 

7

 
 

Door Board | Jovo or Tale

 

Door Board | Jovo or Tale
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Kanak

Melanesia, New Caledonia, Oceania

Mid-19th century

Wood, pigment

Gift of Morton D. May

73:1977

 
 

8

 
 

Figurehead (Pakoko or Tete) from a Fishing Canoe

 
 

Figurehead (Pakoko or Tete) from a Fishing Canoe
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Maori

New Zealand, Oceania

18th to early 19th century

Wood

Bequest of Morton D. May

1558:1983

 
 
 

9

 
 

Mask | Lewa

 
 

Mask | Lewa
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Wogeo Island (Vokeo Island)

East Sepik province, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Oceania

Early 20th century

Wood

Gift of Morton D. May

170:1975

 
 

10

 
 

Breastplate | Civavonovono

 
 

Breastplate | Civavonovono
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Fijian

Tailevu province, Polynesia, Fiji, Oceania

c.1840–50

Whale ivory, pearl shell, plant fiber

Bequest of Morton D. May

1557:1983

 
 
 

11

 
 

Treasure Box | Wakahuia

 
 

Treasure Box | Wakahuia
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Maori

Australasia, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Oceania

Early 19th century

Wood, shell, and greenstone

Gift of Morton D. May

203:1975a,b

 
 

12

 
 

Ceremonial Paddle

 

Ceremonial Paddle
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Hermit Islands

Manus Province, Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Oceania

Probably 18th century

Wood, pigment

Gift of Morton D. May

198:1975

 
 

13

 
 

Frontlet

 

Frontlet
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Nuxalk (Bella Coola)

Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada, North and Central America

c.1870

Wood, pigment, copper, abalone shell, and mirrored glass

Gift of Morton D. May

272:1982

 
 

14

 
 

Yoke

 

Yoke
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 

Classic Veracruz

Veracruz state, Mexico, North and Central America

c.600–800

Stone

Gift of Morton D. May

356:1978

 
 
 

15

 
 

Palma

 

Palma
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 
 

Classic Veracruz

Veracruz State, Mexico, North and Central America

c.600–909

Stone

Gift of Morton D. May

213:1978

 
 
 

16

 
 

Male Bust

 

Male Bust
© Saint Louis Art Museum | Missouri, USA

 

New Georgia

Western province, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, Oceania

Early to mid-20th century

Wood, shell, plant fiber, resin, pigment

Gift of Morton D. May

68:1977

 
 
 

All artworks and images presented in this feature are the property of Saint Louis Art Museum.
© Saint Louis Art Museum