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This page was one of 30 done on plain wrapping paper. A note on a scrap of paper included with the pages reads: “Drawings by Sitting Bull at Red Cloud Indian Agency near Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Drawn about 1874 for Dr. J. J. Saville Indian Agent” (Sotheby’s Catalog, December 2, 1987:30). John J. Saville was the doctor on Pine Ridge Reservation between 1873 and 1875. Saville and his wife escorted a group of Indians to Washington sometime between 1873 and 1875.
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.
American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 20, 2004 - April 11, 2004.
ProvenanceDr. John Saville, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Sotheby's, New York City; Jonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York; Alex Acevedo, New York City; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographySotheby's. December 2, 1987, Sale Number 5643, lot 140(30).
Herbst, Toby and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indians Art. Cooperstown, New York/ Seattle: New York State Historical Association/ University of Washington Press, 1993, p.111, pl.111.
Paul, R. Eli. The Nebraska Indian Wars Reader 1865-1877. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998, third unnumbered leaf after p.127.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.165.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 170.
Artist
Sitting Bull
(died 1876, Oglala Lakota (Teton Sioux))
Drawing
Datec. 1874
MediumColored pencils on paper
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/4 × 7 1/2 in. (23.5 × 19.1 cm)
Object numberT0366
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis drawing of colored pencil on unlined paper is alleged to be by Sitting Bull, the Oglala Chief. The drawing depicts a mounted warrior holding an American flag and repeating rifle, charging his enemy. The warrior wears a complex eagle feather trailer bonnet with horns and a bird’s head at its crown. He wears red paint on his face, his upper body covered in blue dots. A three-bladed war club appears at his waist as well as a pistol holder. The horse is painted red with a trail of green dashes ascending up its flanks to its head. Running up the neck of the horse with its wings pointed downward is a long-necked crane, probably a protective spirit. Behind the war bonnet are two firing guns. The print is filled with U-shaped horse prints, probably indicating a skirmish involving many other riders. The portrayed American flag has an eagle feather at the end of the stick and may be acting as a coup stick.This page was one of 30 done on plain wrapping paper. A note on a scrap of paper included with the pages reads: “Drawings by Sitting Bull at Red Cloud Indian Agency near Fort Robinson, Nebraska. Drawn about 1874 for Dr. J. J. Saville Indian Agent” (Sotheby’s Catalog, December 2, 1987:30). John J. Saville was the doctor on Pine Ridge Reservation between 1873 and 1875. Saville and his wife escorted a group of Indians to Washington sometime between 1873 and 1875.
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.
American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum, Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 20, 2004 - April 11, 2004.
ProvenanceDr. John Saville, Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota; Sotheby's, New York City; Jonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York; Alex Acevedo, New York City; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographySotheby's. December 2, 1987, Sale Number 5643, lot 140(30).
Herbst, Toby and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indians Art. Cooperstown, New York/ Seattle: New York State Historical Association/ University of Washington Press, 1993, p.111, pl.111.
Paul, R. Eli. The Nebraska Indian Wars Reader 1865-1877. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998, third unnumbered leaf after p.127.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.165.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 170.
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