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Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
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.
American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
Extended Loan AAOA (following Met Thaw Travelling Exhibit), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, October 16, 2017 - April 16. 2019.
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.
ProvenanceAlton L. Dickerman, collected in Sitka, Alaska, c. 1883; Miss Foster B. Dickerman, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mrs. Alice Bemis Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1928; Taylor Museum (5006), Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1954
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Yakutat South Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964, p. 23, pl. 12.
Harner, Michael J., and Albert B. Elsasser. Art of the Northwest Coast. Berkeley: University of California, 1965, cover and fly leaf.
Wherry, Joseph H. Indian Masks of the West. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969, pp.138-139, Taylor Museum.
Feder, Norman. "The Malaspina Collection." American Indian Art Magazine 2, no. 3 (Summer 1977), p. xix, cat. no. 85 (not ill.).
Walker Art Center. American Indian Art: Form and Tradition. New York: E.P. Dtton, 1972, p. 137, cat. no. 611 (not ill.).
Collins, Henry B., Frederica de Laguna, Edmund Carpenter, and Peter Stone. "The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art." Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. 1977. First published 1973, pl. 238, fig. 297.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center: A History and Selections from the Permanent Collections. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1986, p.125, Taylor Museum 5006.
Wardwell, Allen. Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.142-143, fig.147.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.86.
Penney, David W. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord. Paris: Terrail, 1998, pp.180-181.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.371.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 134.
Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 26.
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. 419.
Culture
Tlingit
Mask
Date1800-1840
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/2 × 7 × 3 1/2 in. (24.1 × 17.8 × 8.9 cm)
Overall (Mount Dimensions): 7 × 5 × 3 in. (17.8 × 12.7 × 7.6 cm)
Object numberT0214
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextTlingit shamans’ masks directly manifest the spirit-beings that were the shamans’ helpers and intermediaries between the worlds of spirit and matter. Octopus tentacles painted on the cheeks rise from the corners of the mouth. The pointed lips suggest the beak-like mouth of an octopus, a feature emphasized by copper sheathing also covers each nostril.Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
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.
American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
Extended Loan AAOA (following Met Thaw Travelling Exhibit), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, October 16, 2017 - April 16. 2019.
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.
ProvenanceAlton L. Dickerman, collected in Sitka, Alaska, c. 1883; Miss Foster B. Dickerman, Colorado Springs, Colorado; Mrs. Alice Bemis Taylor, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1928; Taylor Museum (5006), Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1954
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Yakutat South Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964, p. 23, pl. 12.
Harner, Michael J., and Albert B. Elsasser. Art of the Northwest Coast. Berkeley: University of California, 1965, cover and fly leaf.
Wherry, Joseph H. Indian Masks of the West. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1969, pp.138-139, Taylor Museum.
Feder, Norman. "The Malaspina Collection." American Indian Art Magazine 2, no. 3 (Summer 1977), p. xix, cat. no. 85 (not ill.).
Walker Art Center. American Indian Art: Form and Tradition. New York: E.P. Dtton, 1972, p. 137, cat. no. 611 (not ill.).
Collins, Henry B., Frederica de Laguna, Edmund Carpenter, and Peter Stone. "The Far North: 2000 Years of American Eskimo and Indian Art." Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art. 1977. First published 1973, pl. 238, fig. 297.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center: A History and Selections from the Permanent Collections. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 1986, p.125, Taylor Museum 5006.
Wardwell, Allen. Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.142-143, fig.147.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.86.
Penney, David W. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord. Paris: Terrail, 1998, pp.180-181.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.371.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 134.
Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 26.
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. 419.
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