Cradleboard
Relatives made this cradleboard in yellow ocher for a baby girl; they would have used white clay paint for a boy. Its wooden backboard is covered in leather and ornamented with geometric and curvilinear designs in pigment and beadwork. A hood of thin wooden rods provided protection if the cradleboard tipped forward and also kept the sun from the baby’s eyes. A small beaded case used to hold a stitching awl for sewing heavy hides hangs from the side.
Artwork Details
- Title: Cradleboard
- Date: ca. 1890
- Geography: Possibly made in Colorado, United States; Possibly made in Utah, United States
- Culture: Ute, Native American
- Medium: Wood, tanned leather, pigment, glass beads, wool cloth, metal cones, feathers, and bone
- Dimensions: 40 1/2 × 20 3/4 × 6 11/16 in. (102.9 × 52.7 × 17 cm)
- Credit Line: The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.456.25
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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