Skip to main content
ProvenanceCollection of Roy H. Robinson, New Mexico
BibliographyHail, Barbara A. and Kate C. Duncan: Out of the North: The Subarctic Collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Providence, RI: Brown University, 1989.
Dog blankets
Dateca. 1890
DimensionsOverall: 19 1/2 × 22 in. (49.5 × 55.9 cm)
Object numberN0001.2023(02)
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Purchase Price.
Photograph by Richard Walker.
Label TextThese dog blankets, usually called tuppies or tapies, are made in matching sets of even numbers for sled dogs. Dogs only wore the highly decorated blankets when entering a town as they would overheat if they wore them while running. A few miles outside of town, men would stop their dog team to dress them in their blankets. Usually, there was a set of jingle bells sewn into the red wool that would be audible to the village's inhabitants from a distance. Dressing dogs in colorful blankets was a showing of pride for those arriving via sled and the jingle bells added an element of excitement to the visitor's arrival.ProvenanceCollection of Roy H. Robinson, New Mexico
BibliographyHail, Barbara A. and Kate C. Duncan: Out of the North: The Subarctic Collection of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Providence, RI: Brown University, 1989.
On View
On viewca. 1890
