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Gun Case
Gun Case

Gun Case

Datec. 1870-1875
DimensionsOverall (Includes fringe): 50 × 46 in. (127 × 116.8 cm)
Object numberT0705
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextGun cases were used in parades and at ceremonial events. The two beaded sections of the cases are always different in pattern and colors. The diagonal band painted on this gun case is rare, and is most likely a war-honor marking. The distinctive nature of Crow beadwork reflects their complicated interactions with peoples of the northwestern Plains and the Plateau. Many of their beadwork designs derive from the patterns that Crow women painted on their rawhide containers (“parfleches”). Traders and travelers in the 19th century remarked upon the beautiful and elegant Crow costumes and attires worn when they came in parades to visit trading posts.
Exhibition History"Treasures from the Thaw Collection," Wheelwright Museum of American Indian Art. Santa Fe, NM, May 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000.

"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.
ProvenanceJonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York; Douglas C. Ewing (H747); Arthur O. Wellman, Boston, Massachusetts; Jonathan Holstein, Cazenovia, New York
BibliographyKing, J.H.C. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.21, No.3. (Summer 1996): 43.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.157.

Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 72.

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. 179.
On View
Not on view
Case
Kutenai
1840-1850
Cases
Kiowa
1860-1870
Bag
c. 1820-1840
Dance Slippers
Eunice Carney
c. 1980
Moccasins
Tlicho (Dogrib)
c. 1980
Spoon
Yurok
c. 1900
Man with Gun and Dog
Unidentified Artist
n.d.
Spoon
Yurok
c. 1900
Martingale
Apsaalooke (Crow)
c. 1885
Shield
Apsaalooke (Crow)
c. 1860
Needle Case
Seneca (Haudenosaunee)
c. 1830-1850

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

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