Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Culture

Manta

Date1915-1935
DimensionsOverall: 59 × 41 3/4 in. (149.9 × 106 cm)
Object numberT0108
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextFrom prehistoric times mantas were an important article of trade and commerce in the pueblo region. Some garments were plain, but others, such as this one, were decorated with embroidery along their top and bottom edges. The lower section has five multicolored diamonds that enclose stylized butterflies and abstract rain clouds, symbols of fertility and renewal. Mantas are worn today at dances and other ceremonial events, though in the past they were worn daily.
Exhibition History"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.

"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.
ProvenanceSotheby's, New York City 1982; Gerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographySotheby's. 23 October 1982, Sale 4943, lot 22.

Perriot, Francoise and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts de Indiens d’Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d’ Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris: Somogy editions e’Art. 1999, p. 82, fig. 67.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, pp.224-225.

Fognell, Eva. “Art of the American Indians: The Thaw Collections.” Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2010, p. 95.

Murdock, Michelle, ed. 50 at 20: Masterpieces of American Indian Art from the Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, NY: Fenimore Art Museum, 2015, p. 21.

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. 243.
On View
On view
Manta
Dine (Navajo)
1875-1885
Manta
Hopi
1900-1925
Tray
Hopi
1895-1905
Sash
Hopi
c. 1890
Belt
Hopi
1900-1930
Sash
Hopi
c. 1900-1920
Dance Kilt
Hopi
c. 1940
Manta
Pueblo
1910-1930
Belt
Manitoba Ojibwa
c. 1800
Bag
Nez Perce
1890-1910
Bag
Nez Perce
c. 1875
Basket
Attu
1890-1910

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

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required