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The floral origin of these elements is completely ignored in their bilaterally symmetrical arrangements, often in combination with stars, crosses, horse, human, or bird figures This new style of beadwork became popular among all the regional tribes that associated their own conventional art styles with the traditional culture that was disintegrating under pressures emanating from the surrounding Euro-American society. The rapid spread of the new Prairie style related to Native efforts to maintain a generalized "Indian" identity; recognized this beadwork as "the first expansive inter-tribal style of the 19th century." The highly stylized designs on the background of dark broadcloth of this example are typical for the fully developed style of the late 19th century. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Arrows of the Spirit: North American Indian Adornment from Prehistoric to Present," Mingei International, San Diego, California, August 27, 1999 - April 1, 2000.
"Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead," Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, May 18, 2013 - January 5, 2014.
ProvenanceDavid Wooley, Corrales, New Mexico; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.110.
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. 120.
Culture
Omaha
Breechcloth
Datec. 1890
DimensionsOverall: 19 × 52 1/4 in. (48.3 × 132.7 cm)
Object numberT0408
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextAfter the mid-19th century, a new style of beadwork emerged among the Native Americans living on reservations along the Missouri River in Nebraska and Kansas. For some of them, this was their ancestral territory, but many other bands had been moved in by the American government from their Great Lakes Islands. Immigrants such as the Sauk, Fox, Potawatomi, and Delaware introduced their tribal versions of a Great Lakes floral art style, stimulating the Iowa, Oto-Missouri, and Kansa to assimilate elements of this floral style in their own beadwork. The new "Prairie style" that developed from this amalgamation is a spot-stitch beadwork characterized by curvilinear, vaguely floral, and abstract elements in white outlines.The floral origin of these elements is completely ignored in their bilaterally symmetrical arrangements, often in combination with stars, crosses, horse, human, or bird figures This new style of beadwork became popular among all the regional tribes that associated their own conventional art styles with the traditional culture that was disintegrating under pressures emanating from the surrounding Euro-American society. The rapid spread of the new Prairie style related to Native efforts to maintain a generalized "Indian" identity; recognized this beadwork as "the first expansive inter-tribal style of the 19th century." The highly stylized designs on the background of dark broadcloth of this example are typical for the fully developed style of the late 19th century. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Arrows of the Spirit: North American Indian Adornment from Prehistoric to Present," Mingei International, San Diego, California, August 27, 1999 - April 1, 2000.
"Life on a String: 35 Centuries of the Glass Bead," Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, NY, May 18, 2013 - January 5, 2014.
ProvenanceDavid Wooley, Corrales, New Mexico; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.110.
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. 120.
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