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Exhibition History"Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles," Gilcrease Museum OK, April 20, 2000 - July 20, 2000; Heard Museum, AZ; August 27, 2000 - January 16, 2001; Fowler Museum, CA, March 3, 2001 - May 27, 2001; National Museum of the American Indian, NY, June 23, 2001 - September 15, 2001; Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, OK, October 20, 2001 - December 31, 2001; Mashantucket Pequot Museum, CT.
"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.
ProvenanceF. Llewellyn Casterline, Belmont, New York; Skinner's, Bolton, Massachusetts, Fall 1990; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographySkinner's. 9 February 1991, lot 312.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.40.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.122.
Hail, Barbara, ed. Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles. Providence, RIL Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University, 2000, p. 129.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 70.
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. 136.
Culture
Kiowa
Cradle
Date1880-1900
DimensionsOverall: 39 1/2 × 12 3/4 in. (100.3 × 32.4 cm)
Object numberT0077
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextCradleboards, which held babies snugly and safely, were used by Native Americans across the continent and babies spent a good deal of their time in them. Plains people created highly decorated ones, especially once seed beads were widely available. Older women made them for their younger relatives. This particular form, a skin bag attached to rigid boards, was a specific Plains style. The unique design is instantly recognizable as Kiowa. Such cradleboards were cherished family objects, passed from one generation to the next.Exhibition History"Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles," Gilcrease Museum OK, April 20, 2000 - July 20, 2000; Heard Museum, AZ; August 27, 2000 - January 16, 2001; Fowler Museum, CA, March 3, 2001 - May 27, 2001; National Museum of the American Indian, NY, June 23, 2001 - September 15, 2001; Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, OK, October 20, 2001 - December 31, 2001; Mashantucket Pequot Museum, CT.
"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.
ProvenanceF. Llewellyn Casterline, Belmont, New York; Skinner's, Bolton, Massachusetts, Fall 1990; Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographySkinner's. 9 February 1991, lot 312.
Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.40.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.122.
Hail, Barbara, ed. Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles. Providence, RIL Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University, 2000, p. 129.
Fognell, Eva, ed. Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 70.
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. 136.
On View
On view
