Aboriginal life among the Navajo Indians, near Old Fort Defiance, New Mexico

Artist Timothy H. O'Sullivan (American, born Ireland, 1840 - 1882)

Date1873

MediumAlbumen print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 10 13/16 × 8 inches (27.46 × 20.32 cm)
Mount: 19 1/2 × 15 1/2 inches (49.53 × 39.37 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.248

SignedOn mount recto, lower left, in black type: "T.H. O'Sullivan, Phot."

InscribedOn mount recto, bottom, in black type: "ABORIGINAL LIFE AMONG THE NAVAJOE [sic] INDIANS. / Near old Fort Defiance, N.M."; On mount recto, top, in black type: "WAR DEPARTMENT / CORPS OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY. / Geographical & Geological Explorations & Surveys West of the 100th Meridian." "Expedition of 1873. - Lieut. Geo. M Wheeler, Corps of Engineers, commanding."

MarkingsOn mount recto, lower right, in black type: "No. 7"

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of four figures, one paritally hidden from view, seated in a landscape beside a double loom and ears of corn being dried in a tree.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Developing Greatness: The Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – December 30, 2007, no. 397.

Rotation 24. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 9 – November 12, 2017, no cat.

Gallery Label

This group study is one of the earliest photographs of Navaho weaving. Timothy H. O’Sullivan made this photograph during his work for Lt. George M. Wheeler’s topographic survey of the territory west of the 100th meridian.

Provenance

Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1999;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

Published References

Keith F. Davis, The Origins of American Photography: from Daguerreotype to Dry-Plate, 1839-1885. With contributions by Jane L. Aspinwall. Kansas City, MO: Hall Family Foundation: in association with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2007. Distributed by Yale University Press. Published in conjunction with Developing Greatness: the Origins of American Photography, 1839-1885, shown at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 232 (repro).

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