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Exhibition HistoryAmerican Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
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.
ProvenanceJon C. Griffin, Columbia, South Carolina
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.33.
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. 7.
Culture
Caddoan
Bottle
Datec. 1500
MediumClay
DimensionsOverall: 10 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (26.7 × 26.7 cm)
Object numberT0644
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextA symbol of the Middle World known as a looped square is seen here as four swirls that frame the neck of this bottle. The Middle World was a flat disc that floated on the watery Beneath World and was anchored at the four cardinal directions. Here, the cardinal directions are symbolized by the swirls. Both the looped square and the bottle literally hold the waters of the Beneath World and transform the contents into a powerful medicine. A person pouring this bottle controlled the flow of the ritual drink and symbolically controlled the cosmos in that moment.Exhibition HistoryAmerican Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
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.
ProvenanceJon C. Griffin, Columbia, South Carolina
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.33.
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. 7.
On View
Not on view1450-1550
