The Turkey Shoot

Date1857

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsSight: 35 × 46 7/8 in. (88.9 × 119.1 cm)

Object numberN0403.1955

Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark

Photograph by Richard Walker

Label TextTompkins Harrison Matteson documented various aspects of upstate New York life in his genre paintings and recorded his generation's great interest in romantic novels and history in his works based on James Fenimore Cooper and other colonial period novels. "The Turkey Shoot" is taken from Cooper's novel The Pioneers and depicts an old custom held on Christmas day. A turkey was buried in the snow up to its neck, with the objective being to shoot the bobbing red head from a distance of 100 yards. Only a shot in the neck or head was counted as good, and each shot cost a shilling. Matteson captured the moment Leatherstocking (right) recharges his gun after shooting the bird. His beaten opponent is Billy Kirby (in red on left).
Exhibition History“Rediscovered Painters of Upstate New York,” New York Historical Society, NY, February 1, 1959 – February 28, 1959; Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, Syracuse, NY, January 4, 1959 – January 25, 1959; Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, November 30, 1958 – December 21, 1958; Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY, October 30, 1958 – November 20, 1958; Rochester Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY, September 26, 1958 – October 21, 1958; New York State Historical Association, Cooperstown, NY, June 14, 1958 – September 15, 1958.

"What Is American in American Art," M. Knoedler and Company, Inc., New York, NY, February 8, 1971 - March 6, 1971.

“Sam and Elizabeth: Legend and Legacy of Colt's Empire,” Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT, January 1, 1996 – December 31, 1996.

“Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art,” Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY, August 23 – December 31, 2008; New York State Museum, Albany, NY, September 9, 2009 – January 6, 2010.

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