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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 (4910; 4912; 4915; 4926), Colorado Springs, 1954
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Yakutat South Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964, p. 73, cat. no. 193.
Feder, Norman. "The Malaspina Collection." American Indian Art Magazine 2, no. 3 (Summer 1977), p. xviii, cat. no. 69 (not ill.).
Walker Art Center. American Indian Art: Form and Tradition. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1972, p. 124, cat. no. 229 (not ill.).
Coe, Ralph T. Sacred Circles: two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art. Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery of Art, 1977. First Published in London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1976, p. 139, fig. 283.
Wardwell, Allen. Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.317, fig.477.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.389.
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. 435.
Culture
Tlingit
Shaman's Figure
Date1850-1870
DimensionsOverall: 2 1/2 × 1 1/4 in. (6.4 × 3.2 cm)
Object numberT0219a-d
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label Text
This expressive figure represents a shaman and several masks that aided him. His long unkempt hair was a source of shamanic power and a symbol of shamanic identity. His pawlike hands refer to his ability to transform between human and animal realities. The figure may have helped identify a patient's illness. The miniature masks represent spirit helpers.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 (4910; 4912; 4915; 4926), Colorado Springs, 1954
BibliographyWardwell, Allen. Yakutat South Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1964, p. 73, cat. no. 193.
Feder, Norman. "The Malaspina Collection." American Indian Art Magazine 2, no. 3 (Summer 1977), p. xviii, cat. no. 69 (not ill.).
Walker Art Center. American Indian Art: Form and Tradition. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1972, p. 124, cat. no. 229 (not ill.).
Coe, Ralph T. Sacred Circles: two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art. Kansas City, MO: Nelson Gallery of Art, 1977. First Published in London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1976, p. 139, fig. 283.
Wardwell, Allen. Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and its Art. New York: Monacelli Press/Corvus Press, 1996, p.317, fig.477.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.389.
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. 435.
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