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Wigwam Model
Wigwam Model

Wigwam Model

Date1847-1854
DimensionsOverall: 7 × 4 1/4 × 5 5/8 in. (17.8 × 10.8 × 14.3 cm)
Object numberT0258
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis quillworked wigwam model is the only one known of its kind. The imagery includes a hunter taking aim at a bird as it endeavors to fly away. On the other side of the wigwam the quillwork portrays the same hunter resting the gun on his shoulder as he approaches a woman. Stylized floral motifs and geometric elements appear on each of the walls.
ProvenanceBelieved to have been given as a presentation piece to James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, governor-general of Canada, during his residency 1847-1854; descended in the Elgin family to the 11th Earl of Elgin and the 15th Earl of Kincardine, Dunfermline, Scotland
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.69.

Phillips, Ruth B. "Quilled Bark from the Central Greal Lakes: A Transcultural History." In Studies in American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Austria/Seattle: Adolf Holzhausens Nachfolger/ University of Washington Press, 2000, pp.122-123 [general reference to ex-Elgin Great Lakes quilled birchbark pieces], p.128.

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. 75.
On View
On view
Baby Bonnet
Anishinaabe (eastern Ojibwa) or Odawa
1847-1854
Model Head Canoe
Possibly Haida
c. 1830-1860
Canoe Model
Anishinaabe (eastern Ojibwa) or Odawa
1847-1854
Parka (Qas'peq)
Central Yup'ik
c. 1890-1910
Bow, Quiver and Arrows
Chugach (Alutiiq)
1825-1850
Canoe Model
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1838
Pouch Panel
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1777
Bag
Odawa or cultural relatives
c. 1790
Float Basket
Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka)
c. 1910
Model Tipi
Inunaina (Arapaho)
c. 1890-1900
Untitled
Felix Octavius Carr Darley
1855-1859

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

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