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After the end of tribal warfare, the use of horse masks survived in Fourth of July parades until the 1930s. This horse mask is a fine example from that final period. The lazy-stitch beadwork shows the American flag as a new symbol of power. These flags are pictured all over the face of the horse, but it is strange that they decorate only one side of the mane cover. This remarkable composition is also found on another Sioux horse mask of the same period (c.f. Pohrt, 1975, fig.193). (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.
"The Flag in American Indian Art," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ. August 30, 1998 - January 18, 1998; High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA. February 21, 1998 - June 13, 1998 Historical Society of Saginaw County, (Castle Museum), Saginaw, MI, August 1, 1998 - September 27, 1998; Houston Museum of Natural Science, October 1998 - March, 1999; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE. July 3, 1999 - August 29, 1999; Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT, October 1999 – December 1999.
"The Tipi of the Great Plains," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY, February 18, 2011 - May 15, 2011.
"Indians of the Plains, Art and Life in North America," Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, France, March 31, 2014 – July 29, 2014; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kentucky City, MI, September 19, 2014 – January 13, 2015; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, March 3, 2015 – May 14, 2015.
"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.
"Stripes and Stars: Reclaiming Lakota Independence," Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, October 11, 2020 - March 28, 2021.
ProvenancePaul Raczka, Ketchum, Idaho; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyFenichell, Jill Weitzman. "The Flag in American Indian Art." Antiques and the Arts Weekly, July, 23, 1993, p.74.
Athineos, Doris. "Tribal Art Law." Antique Monthly. November 1993: 28.
Herbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, cover and p. 116, pl. 119.
"The Flag in American Indian Art." Whispering Wind. Vol.28, No.6 (1997):48.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.152.
Cowdrey, Mike and Ned & Jody Martin. American Indian Horse Masks. Nicasio, CA: Hawk Hill Press, 2006, p. 47.
Rosoff, Nancy B., and Susan Kennedy Zeller. Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains. Seattle: Brooklyn Museum and University of Washington Press, 2011. (fig. 26), p. 23.
Torrence, Gaylord. The Plains Indians: Artists of the Earth and Sky. Skira Rizzoli, 2014. Plate 107, p. 245.
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. 160.
Culture
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
Horse Mask
Datec. 1900
MediumHide, glass beads
DimensionsOverall: 28 1/2 × 35 in. (72.4 × 88.9 cm)
Object numberT0070
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor NYC
Label TextHorse masks are perhaps the most spectacular and the least known components in the ceremonial horse trappings of the Plains Indians, although they have been reported from all over the Northern and Central Plains as well as in the Plateau region. They are on record as early as 1806, when Alexander Henry described some fantastic horse masks used by Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne) peoples in a sham battle on horseback that they had staged in honor of their visitor. Among the Sioux the traditional use of masks in animal-dreamer cult ceremonials provided a context in which also the horses of such cult members were masked. Those masks often had horns as a symbol of sacred power and, in addition, the body of the horse was painted with symbolic designs. (c.f. Pohrt 1975, fig. 103; Denver Art Museum cat. 11631-A; Josephy 1961, p.352; Brasser 1987, p.84, P59-P61; Dockstader 1961, fig. 206) In preparation for war action, horse dances were performed in which the riders in full regalia rode their masked and painted horses. After the end of tribal warfare, the use of horse masks survived in Fourth of July parades until the 1930s. This horse mask is a fine example from that final period. The lazy-stitch beadwork shows the American flag as a new symbol of power. These flags are pictured all over the face of the horse, but it is strange that they decorate only one side of the mane cover. This remarkable composition is also found on another Sioux horse mask of the same period (c.f. Pohrt, 1975, fig.193). (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition HistoryMuseum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA, December 6, 1994 - May 2, 1995.
"The Flag in American Indian Art," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, NJ. August 30, 1998 - January 18, 1998; High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA. February 21, 1998 - June 13, 1998 Historical Society of Saginaw County, (Castle Museum), Saginaw, MI, August 1, 1998 - September 27, 1998; Houston Museum of Natural Science, October 1998 - March, 1999; Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE. July 3, 1999 - August 29, 1999; Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center, Mashantucket, CT, October 1999 – December 1999.
"The Tipi of the Great Plains," Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn NY, February 18, 2011 - May 15, 2011.
"Indians of the Plains, Art and Life in North America," Musee du Quai Branly, Paris, France, March 31, 2014 – July 29, 2014; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kentucky City, MI, September 19, 2014 – January 13, 2015; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, March 3, 2015 – May 14, 2015.
"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.
"Stripes and Stars: Reclaiming Lakota Independence," Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, October 11, 2020 - March 28, 2021.
ProvenancePaul Raczka, Ketchum, Idaho; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyFenichell, Jill Weitzman. "The Flag in American Indian Art." Antiques and the Arts Weekly, July, 23, 1993, p.74.
Athineos, Doris. "Tribal Art Law." Antique Monthly. November 1993: 28.
Herbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, cover and p. 116, pl. 119.
"The Flag in American Indian Art." Whispering Wind. Vol.28, No.6 (1997):48.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.152.
Cowdrey, Mike and Ned & Jody Martin. American Indian Horse Masks. Nicasio, CA: Hawk Hill Press, 2006, p. 47.
Rosoff, Nancy B., and Susan Kennedy Zeller. Tipi: Heritage of the Great Plains. Seattle: Brooklyn Museum and University of Washington Press, 2011. (fig. 26), p. 23.
Torrence, Gaylord. The Plains Indians: Artists of the Earth and Sky. Skira Rizzoli, 2014. Plate 107, p. 245.
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. 160.
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