Horse Memorial
CultureLakota (Teton Sioux), North or South Dakota
Dateca. 1865
MediumWood and native pigment
DimensionsOverall: 64 × 2 3/8 inches (162.56 × 6.05 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: Donald D. Jones Fund for American Indian Art and gift of Donald Ellis and Mary Ann Bastian
Object number2008.22
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 208
Collections
DescriptionSlender staff carved from wood, incorporating abstracted horse's head at one end and abstracted horse's leg and hoof at the opposite end. Central section of the staff is carved with geometric forms; light staining of yellow, blue and red pigments over surface.Gallery LabelHorse effigies were traditionally carved to be carried in dances, both by successful horse raiders and by warriors honoring horses that had been killed or wounded in battle. Among the rarest and most evocative of Plains Indian sculptural expressions, these carvings were known among the Lakota as "horse memorials" and paid tribute to animals that were respected and loved as comrades in war. The artist of this carving, using a single piece of wood, envisioned the animal as an elongated abstraction, concentrating his depiction on the slender beauty of the horse and its enduring spirit.
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.
