Bag
CultureSauk, Oklahoma
Dateca. 1875
MediumCommercial wool yarn and cotton cord
DimensionsOverall: 11 × 13 1/2 inches (27.94 × 34.29 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: Donald D. Jones Fund for American Indian Art
Object number2005.6
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 208
Collections
DescriptionRectangular bag, open at the top, woven with multi-colored wood yarn; design on one side consisting of three rows of thunderbirds over multi-colored horizontal bands, and on the reverse, images of stylized deer on background of multi-colored horizontal bands.Gallery LabelThe construction of this finger woven, twined bag is extremely complex, to the extent that it initially defied attempts by contemporary experts to determine how it was made. The design depicts rows of thunderbirds on one side and spirit-deer on the reverse, rhythmically floating within a surrounding field of shifting color, geometric pattern and visual texture. These pictorial elements are beautifully orchestrated; the subtlety of color modulation and textural relationships is unsurpassed in other textiles of this type. The attenuated, linear depiction of the thunderbirds is especially dramatic, evoking the lightning with which they are so closely associated.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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