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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.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
ProvenanceLt. John King (b. 1657), Northampton, Massachusetts; Experience King; Timothy Dwight (1758-1817), New Haven, Connecticut; Esther Johnson Diefendorf, Summit, New Jersey; Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas, Ontario
BibliographyDwight, Timothy. Travels in New England and New York. New Haven: Timothy Dwight, 1821, Vol. 1, p.118. [ NYSHA research library copy: Dwight, Timothy. Travels in New England and New York. London: William Baynes and Son and Ogle, Duncan, & Co,, 1823, vol.1, p.91.
MacGregor, Arthur. Tradescant's Rarities: Essays on the Foundation of the Ashmolean Museum 1683 with a Catalogue of the Surviving Early Collections. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1983, p.115, fn 32.
Solis-Cohen, Lita. "The Winter Antiques Show." Maine Antique Digest. March 2001, p.16-E.
"Tenth Anniversary of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 1995-2005" in Heritage magazine, 2005, vol 20. pg. 4-7.
Miller, Angels L., Janet C. Berlo, Bryan J. Wolf and Jennifer L. Roberts. American Art, History, and Culture Identity Encounters. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, pg. 34 -35.
Meachum, Scott. "Markes Upon Their Clubhamers": Interpreting Pictography on Eastern War Clubs, in Three Centiryes of Woodlands Indian Art, a Collection of Essays. Edt J.C.H. King and Christian Feest. ZFK Publishers, 2007. pg. 69.
Pearlstone, Zena, and Allan J. Ryan. About Face: Self-Portraits by Native American, First Nations, and Inuit Artists. Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, 2006. 60 - 61.
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. 90.
Culture
Eastern Woodlands
War Club
Datec. 1620-1680
DimensionsOverall: 2 1/2 × 1 × 24 in. (6.4 × 2.5 × 61 cm)
Object numberT0794
Credit LineLoan from the Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextFamily tradition relates that Lieutenant John King of Northampton, Massachusetts, acquired this club in 1676 in a battle near Hatfield, Massachusetts. The shaft depicts one of the earliest known representations of a Native warrior, perhaps a self-portrait. His face is tattooed in three places: a rayed sun motif at his mouth, a straight line and a dotted line running diagonally across his face, and a zigzag line arcing over his left eye. The other side of the club includes a stylized turtle with a four-pointed star representing its plastron (the bony structure on the turtle’s underside), and two headless figures that likely symbolize vanquished enemies. A wolf with his tongue lolling out embellishes the end of the club. Its eyes were likely once inlaid with shell. Near the grip is a zigzag line, possibly representing a bolt of lightning emanating from the thunderbird’s wings.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.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, May 9, 2017 - October 8, 2017.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, Utica, NY, October 13, 2018 - December 31, 2018.
"American Indian Art from the Fenimore Art Museum: The Thaw Collection," Mitchell Gallery, St John's College, Annapolis, MD, February 28, 2020 - April 26, 2020.
ProvenanceLt. John King (b. 1657), Northampton, Massachusetts; Experience King; Timothy Dwight (1758-1817), New Haven, Connecticut; Esther Johnson Diefendorf, Summit, New Jersey; Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas, Ontario
BibliographyDwight, Timothy. Travels in New England and New York. New Haven: Timothy Dwight, 1821, Vol. 1, p.118. [ NYSHA research library copy: Dwight, Timothy. Travels in New England and New York. London: William Baynes and Son and Ogle, Duncan, & Co,, 1823, vol.1, p.91.
MacGregor, Arthur. Tradescant's Rarities: Essays on the Foundation of the Ashmolean Museum 1683 with a Catalogue of the Surviving Early Collections. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1983, p.115, fn 32.
Solis-Cohen, Lita. "The Winter Antiques Show." Maine Antique Digest. March 2001, p.16-E.
"Tenth Anniversary of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 1995-2005" in Heritage magazine, 2005, vol 20. pg. 4-7.
Miller, Angels L., Janet C. Berlo, Bryan J. Wolf and Jennifer L. Roberts. American Art, History, and Culture Identity Encounters. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008, pg. 34 -35.
Meachum, Scott. "Markes Upon Their Clubhamers": Interpreting Pictography on Eastern War Clubs, in Three Centiryes of Woodlands Indian Art, a Collection of Essays. Edt J.C.H. King and Christian Feest. ZFK Publishers, 2007. pg. 69.
Pearlstone, Zena, and Allan J. Ryan. About Face: Self-Portraits by Native American, First Nations, and Inuit Artists. Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, 2006. 60 - 61.
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. 90.
On View
Not on view
c. 1885-1887
July 23, 1944
