Skip to main content
Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
ProvenanceCharles Ratton, Paris, France; Ladriere-Ratton, Paris, France; Don Ellis, Dundas, Ontario
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.154-155.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 71.
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. 176.
Culture
Inunaina (Arapaho)
Arapaho Buffalo Robe
Date1820-1840
MediumBuffalo hide, paint
DimensionsOverall: 77 × 94 in. (195.6 × 238.8 cm)
Object numberT0393
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis painted pattern on buffalo hide robes is referred to as the “box and border” design, and was particularly seen, with distinct variations, among the Sioux and Arapaho. Hides with this pattern were worn by child-bearing women, with the buffalo’s head to the left. Early robes such as this had incised designs and often employed cross-hatching. The pattern has been interpreted as representing the buffalo and the earth, both suppliers of life-giving necessities, but this is not certain. These robes used a minimum of colors but later robes, produced after commercial pigments became available, are often more colorful.Exhibition History"Art of the American Indian: The Thaw Collection," The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, March 2, 2010 - May 30, 2010; Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis, MN, October 24, 2010 - January 9, 2011; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX, April 24, 2011 - September 23, 2011; Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, December 4, 2011 - February 12, 2012.
ProvenanceCharles Ratton, Paris, France; Ladriere-Ratton, Paris, France; Don Ellis, Dundas, Ontario
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.154-155.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 71.
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. 176.
On View
Not on view
