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Bag

Date1870-1880
DimensionsOverall: 4 5/8 × 6 1/2 in. (11.7 × 16.5 cm)
Object numberT0012
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis bag contained medicines (power materials) that a man acquired through a dream or vision involving the Underwater Panther. This powerful under-the-world manito (spirit being) made water turbulent and treacherous, but also bestowed great blessings on humans. The geometric patterns may identify the female maker—probably the owner’s wife—and record her own vision experiences. The Mesquakie used the bag during healing rites, which were made more effective by the imagery.
Exhibition History"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.
ProvenanceAcquired by Benson Lanford from a Mesquakie family at Tama, Iowa, in ca.1985; David Wooley, Corrales, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Toby Herbst, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyAdvertisement for Benson L. Lanford and Robert W. Gilmore. American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.13, No.3 (Summer 1988): 78.

Wooley, David. On the Border. Plains Art Museum, 1990, p.21, fig.67.

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.76.

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. 86.
On View
Not on view
Bandolier Bag
Anishinaabe (Ojibwa)
c. 1860
Pipe Bag
Mesquakie (Sauk and Fox)
1840-1850
Bandolier Bag
Anishinaabe (Ojibwa)
c. 1870
Bandolier Bag
Anishinaabe (Ojibwa)
c. 1890
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Anishinaabe (Red River Ojibwa)
c. 1790
Martingale
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c. 1885
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Odawa or cultural relatives
c. 1780
Pouch
Metis-Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1850
Bag
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
1885-1890
Cases
Kiowa
1860-1870
Otterskin Bag
Ho-Chunk (Winnebago)
c. 1890
Bandolier Bag
Seminole
c. 1830

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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