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Dagger

Date1790-1810
DimensionsOverall: 20 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (52.1 × 6.4 cm)
Object numberT0203
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThis imposing dagger with its powerful blade is as dramatic as it is daunting. The whalebone carving features an abstracted wolf’s head. Originally, abalone shell traded from California was inlaid in the wolf’s eyes and ears, a few pieces of abalone remain in several of the teeth and one nostril. Objects such as this imposing and highly esteemed dagger would have been brought out at important public ceremonies and used to help validate oral histories of deeds and involvements of clan ancestors.
Exhibition History"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
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.83.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.367.

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. 409.
On View
Not on view
Dagger
Tlingit
1800-1850
Dagger
Tlingit
c. 1880
Dagger
Tlingit
c. 1890
Forehead Mask
Coast Tsimshian or Tlingit
1840-1870
Dagger
Possibly Haida
c. 1880
Dagger Hilt
Haida
1800-1840
Basket
Pomo
1830-1860
War Club
Eastern Woodlands
c. 1620-1680
Canoe Model
Tomah Joseph
c. 1905
Drum
Jaw
c. 1920
Wand
Quinault or Cowlitz
1890-1910
Bowl
Haida
1830-1860

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

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