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Full horse regalia included a beaded crupper, bridle, forehead ornaments, and stirrup covers as well as a martingale. Apsaalooke (Crow) horse gear led in splendor among the Northwestern tribes and it may well be that the Apsaalooke regularized these schemes fairly early on for aesthetic unity. The fairly compact size of the Thaw martingale tends to place it in the earlier part of this development, since examples from the 1890s through the turn of this century tended to be larger in size and more loud and flamboyant in design.
The dark red cloth triangles are cochineal-dyed bayeta wool which was a staple of Navajo weaving from the same period in the 1870s. The play of dark and light in a series of repeated red triangles with white borders for dramatic emphasis is diagnostic of Apasalooke aesthetics. There is a rather classic color balance maintained by the beaded colors on the two tabs and the center panel, set off in turn by the use of predominantly green and red shades on the straps. Intermontane (Nez Perce, Cayuse) related examples with similar schemes tend to be less uniform in tonality and more exuberant in color contrasts. Beaded tabs, as seen here, are replaced by plain cloth tabs in the later Crow examples. Although the martingale shows the obvious patina of age and use, it is in unusually fine condition.
Another example in the Denver Art Museum is generally held to be one of the finer Apasalooke martingales extant. It is also on buffalo hide and has a similar triple triangle scheme on the side straps, but different divider panels: the diagonal lines are more acute and elongated than those on the Thaw martingale. Quality and periodicity may coincide but they do not appear to be by the same beadworker. While buffalo hide is not conclusive evidence for a late buffalo days date for both, it may be an indicator that they are somewhat earlier than previously dated: late 1870 to early 1880s for the Denver martingale (rather than 1890 in Conn, 1892:141 & c.1885 in Coe, 1976:169) and late 1870s to early 1880s for the Thaw martingale rather than the less controversial c.1885 date as has been suggested. Certainly the Thaw martingale ranks also among the finer examples of its genre. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed. Ralph T. Coe)
ProvenanceKenneth Canfield, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyAdvertisement for Kenneth Canfield. American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. 18, No. 2. (Spring 1993: 7).
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.39.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.159.
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. 182.
Culture
Apsaalooke (Crow)
Related Person
Thomas Crow and Company
Martingale
Datec. 1885
DimensionsOverall: 34 1/2 × 14 1/2 in. (87.6 × 36.8 cm)
Object numberT0074
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw Charitable Trust
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextDecorated horse martingales were a specialty of the Northwestern Plains tribes both in Canada and the United States. The most colorful martingales were made towards the end of the 19th century, when elaborate horse regalia became "de rigueur" as parade gear. Indeed the ceremonialism involving the decorated horse became more intense as the use of the horse in actual warfare diminished. Full horse regalia included a beaded crupper, bridle, forehead ornaments, and stirrup covers as well as a martingale. Apsaalooke (Crow) horse gear led in splendor among the Northwestern tribes and it may well be that the Apsaalooke regularized these schemes fairly early on for aesthetic unity. The fairly compact size of the Thaw martingale tends to place it in the earlier part of this development, since examples from the 1890s through the turn of this century tended to be larger in size and more loud and flamboyant in design.
The dark red cloth triangles are cochineal-dyed bayeta wool which was a staple of Navajo weaving from the same period in the 1870s. The play of dark and light in a series of repeated red triangles with white borders for dramatic emphasis is diagnostic of Apasalooke aesthetics. There is a rather classic color balance maintained by the beaded colors on the two tabs and the center panel, set off in turn by the use of predominantly green and red shades on the straps. Intermontane (Nez Perce, Cayuse) related examples with similar schemes tend to be less uniform in tonality and more exuberant in color contrasts. Beaded tabs, as seen here, are replaced by plain cloth tabs in the later Crow examples. Although the martingale shows the obvious patina of age and use, it is in unusually fine condition.
Another example in the Denver Art Museum is generally held to be one of the finer Apasalooke martingales extant. It is also on buffalo hide and has a similar triple triangle scheme on the side straps, but different divider panels: the diagonal lines are more acute and elongated than those on the Thaw martingale. Quality and periodicity may coincide but they do not appear to be by the same beadworker. While buffalo hide is not conclusive evidence for a late buffalo days date for both, it may be an indicator that they are somewhat earlier than previously dated: late 1870 to early 1880s for the Denver martingale (rather than 1890 in Conn, 1892:141 & c.1885 in Coe, 1976:169) and late 1870s to early 1880s for the Thaw martingale rather than the less controversial c.1885 date as has been suggested. Certainly the Thaw martingale ranks also among the finer examples of its genre. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed. Ralph T. Coe)
ProvenanceKenneth Canfield, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyAdvertisement for Kenneth Canfield. American Indian Art Magazine. Vol. 18, No. 2. (Spring 1993: 7).
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.39.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.159.
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. 182.
On View
On view
