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Horse Mask

ca. 1880

Not on view

This mask transformed a horse into an animal with sacred power in warfare, hunting, and ritual. Beads cover the surface and horns proclaim supernatural endurance and speed. Red ocher, a ceremonial paint, outlines the beaded panel along the base of the fringe. Ornamented masks similar to this one appear in the muslin and paper drawings of warrior artists. Long after tribes were confined to reservations, women continued to create these masks.

Horse Mask, Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, wood, brass tacks, cotton cloth, silk ribbon, Assiniboine — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Horse Mask, Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, wood, brass tacks, cotton cloth, silk ribbon, Assiniboine

Horse Mask, Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, wood, brass tacks, cotton cloth, silk ribbon, Assiniboine

Horse Mask, Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, wood, brass tacks, cotton cloth, silk ribbon, Assiniboine

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Horse Mask

Date: ca. 1880

Geography: United States, Northern Plains

Culture: Assiniboine

Medium: Native-tanned leather, glass beads, pigment, wood, brass tacks, cotton cloth, silk ribbon

Dimensions: Length: 18 in. × Width 10 1/2 in. (45.7 × 26.7 cm)

Classification: Hide-Costumes

Credit Line: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming (NA 403.215)

The Met

The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing at The Met

The Met's collection of art of the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific Islands, and North, Central, and South America comprises more than eleven thousand works of art of varied materials and types, representing diverse cultural traditions from as early as 3000 B.C.E. to the present.