Dress

Thea Kowne Heye (née Page, 1888-1935), by 1915 [1];

Her gift to the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation, New York, no. 45270, 1915-1931 [2];

Transferred from the Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1931 [3].

NOTES:

[1] National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, object documentation, accession lot 1915.0091.

[2] Thea Page donated this dress to the planned Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation (founded 1916) upon her marriage to the institution’s founder, George Heye (1874-1957), in 1915. The Museum of the American Indian-Heye Foundation opened to the public in New York City in 1922. In 1989, the remaining collection was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution and became part of the National Museum of the American Indian.

[3] In 1931 the Nelson-Atkins co-sponsored two archaeological expeditions with the Heye Foundation: one to Colombia that was directed by Gregory Mason, and a second to the Orinoco River region of Venezuela, directed by Herbert S. Dickey. The partage agreement between the two institutions specified that if the value of the found objects did not match the dollar amount invested by the Nelson-Atkins, the Heye Foundation would transfer objects from its own collection to the Nelson-Atkins to make up the difference, while also giving the Nelson-Atkins an opportunity to purchase additional objects from the Heye Foundation. When the archaeological excavations failed to meet expectations, this was one of a group of objects that were transferred/purchased from the Heye Foundation’s collection to the Nelson-Atkins.