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Gambling Tray
Gambling Tray
Artist (1857 - 1953, Yokuts)

Gambling Tray

Datec. 1900
DimensionsOverall: 1 × 31 in. (2.5 × 78.7 cm)
Object numberT0797
Credit LineGift of Eugene Victor Thaw Art Foundation
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextWomen used decorated trays to play a dice game called Huuchuish. As one of the largest and most finely woven gambling trays of its kind, this tray incorporates pictorial imagery of human figures, flowerlike clusters and diamond shaped rattlesnake patterns. Francisco’s outstanding technical and design skills are readily apparent. She wove for the curio trade, and the tray’s pristine condition suggests that it entered a private collection upon completion.
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.

Extended Loan AAOA (following Met Thaw Travelling Exhibit), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, October 16, 2017 - April 16. 2019.

"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.
ProvenanceCummings Family, Portersville, California; Alan Merritt; Don Bennett, Agoura,California
BibliographyCollings, Jerold. "The Yokuts Gambling Tray." American Indian Art Magazine. Vol.1, No.1 (Autumn 1975): pp.12-13, pl.3.

Masterpieces of Native American Basketry. Canyon, Texas: The Museum, 1986, p.7, [photo identified as c. 1905] photography courtesy of Bob and Carol Adams.

"100 Top Treasures." Art and Antiques. Vol. XXV, no.10, (November 2002): 98-99.

Hill, Liz. "Indian Gaming." Native Peoples 16, no. 3 (March/April 2003), pp. 46-47.

"Tenth Anniversary of the Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 1995-2005" in Heritage magazine, 2005, vol 20. pg. 35.

Fognell, Eva. “Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection.” Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 80.

AIAM Calendar, 2013.

Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 23.

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. 288.
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5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

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