Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Female Figure
Female Figure
Culture

Female Figure

Datec. 1830
DimensionsOverall: 11 × 5 × 2 7/8 in. (27.9 × 12.7 × 7.3 cm)
Object numberT0186
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis sensitively carved and strikingly naturalistic portrait of a Haida woman was made for general sale or perhaps commissioned by Euro-American buyers from a particular artist. She once wore a small labret or lip ring, now missing. Labrets were a sign of social status among the Haida, with the highest ranking women wearing the largest labrets. The beautifully-modeled face is an extraordinary example of sensitive portraiture. Her head is slightly enlarged, a convention in Northwest Coast art. She wears red wool trade yarn earrings.
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.
ProvenanceGeorge Terasaki, New York City
BibliographyAdvertisement for George Terasaki. American Art Magazine, Vol.8, No.1, (Winter1982): 1.

Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. New York: Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1994, pp.222-223.

Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.79.

King, J.H.C. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.21, No.3. (Summer 1996): 39.

Penney, David W. Native American Art Masterpieces. New York: Beaux Arts Editions, 1996, p.98-99.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.342.

Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 142.

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. 367.
On View
On view
Mask
Tlingit
1830-1850
Dagger Hilt
Haida
1800-1840
Shoe Shine Stand
Giovanni Indelicato
c. 1930-1942
Breastplate
Shoshone
c. 1870
Necklace
Apsaalooke (Crow)
1830-1860
Model Head Canoe
Possibly Haida
c. 1830-1860
Spoon
Haida
c. 1870
Bowl
Haida
c. 1850
Native American Basket Seller
Cornelius David Krieghoff
1815-1872
Husband of Eunice Day
John Brewster Jr.
1820

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

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required