Bowl

Datec. 1760

DimensionsOverall: 9 1/2 × 17 1/2 × 23 in. (24.1 × 44.5 × 58.4 cm)

Object numberT0034

Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw

Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC

Label TextFine wooden bowls tended to be handed down from generation to generation, gradually acquiring a worn appearance such as this unusually large example. The knob still shows faint traces of a human face, worn off by frequent handling. Bowls of the type were widespread from the Atlantic seaboard west to the Missouri River. (c.f. Maurer 1989, p.29, fig.11, p.33, fig.16 & p.35, fig.19). The first known owner of this bowl, William B. Goodwin, was a noted collector of colonial New England furniture, and it has been suggested that this bowl may have been made by New England Indians as early as the 17th century. However, the shape of the raised part of the rim opposite the knob appears to be more distinctive for bowls from the eastern Great Lakes region. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Art of This Land," National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 1, 2009 - April 1, 2011.
ProvenanceWilliam B. Goodwin, Hartford, Connecticut, 1927; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, 1950; Skinner's, Bolton, Massachusetts, 1986; Trotta-Bono, Shrub Oak, New York; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert T. "An Iroquois Sampling." Heritage, Vol.10, no.4 (Summer 1994):8.

Vincent, Gilbert T. "The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art." The Magazine Antiques. Vol CXLVIII, no. 1, (July 1995): p.66, pl.VIII.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.64.

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. 63.

On View

Not on view