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Exhibition History"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.
"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.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Paul Rabut, Westport, Connecticut; Betty Sterling, Randolph, Vermont and Honolulu, Hawaii; Sotheby's, New York City, 1987; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyPohrt Sr., Richard. The American Indian, The American Flag. Flint, MI: Flint Institute of Arts, 1975, p. 119, fig. 150.
Wardwell, Allen. Of Pride and Spirit: North American Indian Art from a Private Collection in Hawaii. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1981, p. 54, fig. 47.
Sotheby's. December 1987, Sale 5643, lot 189.
Herbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, pp. 28-29, pl. 1.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.127.
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. 157.
Culture
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
Leggings
Datec. 1890
DimensionsOverall: 15 1/2 × 16 in. (39.4 × 40.6 cm)
Object numberT0071a-b
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextWomen's leggings of the Central Plains consisted of rectangular sheets of tanned skin that were wrapped around the lower part of the leg and sewn closed or tied with thongs like this pair. They were held up by means of garters below the knee. Cowhide was used as a substitute for buffalo or elk skin in the early Reservation period. Adopted as a symbol of courage and power, the American flag is waving in all directions on these leggings. It has replaced the symbolic designs relating to a man's war honors which often decorated his wife's leggings in former times. Beautifully decorated garments such as these leggings were made to be worn at Fourth of July celebrations. The use of metallic beads on these leggings was popular between 1885 and 1895. Decorated leggings were usually worn with moccasins beaded in the same pattern. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)Exhibition History"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.
"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.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Paul Rabut, Westport, Connecticut; Betty Sterling, Randolph, Vermont and Honolulu, Hawaii; Sotheby's, New York City, 1987; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyPohrt Sr., Richard. The American Indian, The American Flag. Flint, MI: Flint Institute of Arts, 1975, p. 119, fig. 150.
Wardwell, Allen. Of Pride and Spirit: North American Indian Art from a Private Collection in Hawaii. Honolulu: Honolulu Academy of Arts, 1981, p. 54, fig. 47.
Sotheby's. December 1987, Sale 5643, lot 189.
Herbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, pp. 28-29, pl. 1.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.127.
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. 157.
On View
On viewc. 1820-1840
