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Pillow Sham
Pillow Sham
Culture

Pillow Sham

Date1900-1925
DimensionsOverall: 29 × 27 in. (73.7 × 68.6 cm)
Object numberT0584
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Label TextPillow shams and other elaborately beaded objects were highly admired souvenirs in Alaska, the Yukon, and the Northwest Territories in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Native beadworker made it appealing to American visitors by adding four American flags and two shields derived from the arms of the United States. This pillow sham was the first piece of American Indian art that Eugene and Clare Thaw purchased in 1987. It inspired them to form a collection of Native American artifacts with flag imagery.
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.

"The Flag in American Indian Art," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ, August 30, 1997 - January 18, 1998; High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA. February 21, 1998 - June 13, 1998; Historical Society of Saginaw County, (Castle Museum), Saginaw, MI. August 1, 1998 - September 27, 1998; Houston Museum of Natural Science. October 1998 - March 1999; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE. July 3, 1999 - August 29, 1999; Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT. October 1999 - December 1999.

"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
ProvenanceEarle B. DeLaittre, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Forrest Fenn Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyHerbst,Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, p. 103, fig. 101.

Pohrt, Sr., Richard. The American Indian, The American Flag. Flint, MI: Flint Institute of Arts, 1998, p. 78, fig. 88.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.410.

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. 458.
On View
On view
Pillow Sham
Han type
c. 1911
Violin Case
Brule Sioux (Lakota)
1899
Moccasins
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1820
Summer Outfit
Gwich'in (Kutchin)
c. 1880
Breastplate
Shoshone
c. 1870
Horse Mask
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1900
Jacket
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
1890-1910
Moccasins
Tlicho (Dogrib)
c. 1980
Moccasins
Slavey
c. 1980
Moccasins
Slavey
c. 1980
Dance Stick
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1880
Leggings
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1890

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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