Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Vest Back
Vest Back

Vest Back

Date1890-1910
DimensionsOverall: 10 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (26.7 × 24.1 cm)
Object numberT0342
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label Text The boy's vest seen here illustrates the significance of the cross in Lakota tradition. It represents the four winds or four directions and was often used in place of the American five pointed star to highlight the sacredness of the number four as a symbol of harmony and balance.
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, 1997 - 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.
ProvenanceMorning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
BibliographyHerbst, Toby, and Joel Kopp. The Flag in American Indian Art. Cooperstown, NY: New York State Historical Association, 1993, p. 96, pl. 93.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.132 [photo] & p.133 [caption] caption published with wrong image.

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. 161.
On View
Not on view
Pouch
Lenape (Delaware)
1795-1820
Cowboy Boots
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
1900-1930
Bag
Odawa or cultural relatives
c. 1790
Gauntlets
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1890
Bag
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
1890-1910
Running Shoes
Imogene Goodshot Arquero
c. 1995
Pouch
Odawa or cultural relatives
c. 1780
Belt
Manitoba Ojibwa
c. 1800
Birch Bark Box
Anishinaabe (eastern Ojibwa)
1847-1854
Knife Sheath
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
1860-1870
Feather Headdress
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1900
Pipe
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1880

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

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required