Horse Memorial
Artist
Butch Thunder Hawk
(North American Indian, Hunkpapa, Lakota (Teton Sioux), born 1946)
Date2003
MediumWood (cottonwood), rawhide, native tanned leather, horsehair, brass tacks, and native pigment
DimensionsOverall: 31 7/8 × 3 × 3 1/4 inches (80.95 × 7.62 × 8.26 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: Donald D. Jones Fund for American Indian Art
Object number2004.6
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 208
Collections
DescriptionCarved wooden staff, slightly curving; leading end terminating in the head of a horse with open mouth, brass tack eyes, and rawhide ears; trailing end "handle" terminating in horse's hoof. Main of real, white Nokota horse hair attached.Gallery LabelButch Thunder Hawk is inspired by the 19th-century carvings of No Two Horns, the most famous known maker of horse dance staffs. Here, Thunder Hawk has adopted the earlier carver's classic representation of the horse: a stylized head at the leading end opposite the horse's hoof, symbolizing the legs of the charging animal. The short, gently curved staff between the carved ends suggests the horse's body. Thunder Hawk and No Two Horns share a Lakota heritage. Originally from Standing Rock Reservation, Thunder Hawk is the best-known, present-day carver of these forms.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Copyright© Butch Thunder Hawk
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