Tobacco Bag
CultureKiowa, Oklahoma
Dateca. 1890
MediumNative tanned leather, glass beads, and native pigment
DimensionsOverall: 27 3/4 × 5 1/2 inches (70.49 × 13.97 cm)
Credit LineGift of Berte and Alan Hirschfield
Object number2007.42
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 208
Collections
DescriptionVertical leather bag, heavily fringed at bottom below a panel of embroidered glass beadwork; four beaded lappets suspended from top; upper leather panel painted pale yellow.Gallery LabelThe geometric design forming the beaded panel of this rare Kiowa bag was almost certainly intended as a pictographic landscape. Across the bottom, a row of motifs including green triangles suggests the earth's horizon. Above, radiating brightness within the pre-dawn, eastern sky is a large red equilateral cross within a blue diamond-the morning star. Its four expanding points terminate in Latin crosses, now associated with Christianity. Collectively, the design may be symbolic of the Native American Church, which incorporates both the morning star and Christian imagery within its iconography.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information,
is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete.
Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a
particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum.
If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image,
please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.
