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ProvenanceGeorge Terasaki, New York City
BibliographyFeder, Norman. Two Hundred Years of North American Indian Art. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971, p.102, fig.131.
Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1994, p.76.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.17.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.80.
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. 71.
Figure
Date1825-1850
MediumWood, feather, pigment
DimensionsOverall: 10 3/4 × 3 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (27.3 × 9.5 × 3.8 cm)
Object numberT0010
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe cavities in the bodies of such dolls, here a rectangular shape carved into the stomach, usually contained herbal potions used in curing disease, an indication of their use by Native doctors. Among the Ojibwa and other Great Lakes Indians these doctors usually belonged to the Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society. Face paint and other decorations on such dolls show how the doctor was supposed to paint and decorate himself in preparation for his performance, a prescription usually derived from dreams. Similar dolls, dressed in elaborate garments, had 'love medicine' placed in their chest cavities. Tied together face to face, a male and female puppet of this type were believed to attract a marriage partner to the doll's owner. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)ProvenanceGeorge Terasaki, New York City
BibliographyFeder, Norman. Two Hundred Years of North American Indian Art. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971, p.102, fig.131.
Penney, David W. and George C. Longfish. Native American Art. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 1994, p.76.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.17.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.80.
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. 71.
On View
Not on viewc. 1780
c. 1854
