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Quilt

Rebecca Blackwater Native American
ca. 1915
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
Pictographic histories abound in Plains art and are found on painted robes, shirts, ledger drawings, and winter counts. Although men usually created these histories, a woman made this rare quilt. Everyday life is featured instead of battle scenes, and in two humorous vignettes, warriors encounter kangaroos. The familiar crossed hatchet and pipe, an emblem of peace and diplomacy, also appears in the upper right and lower left corners. Quilt stencils, from a women’s magazine or newspaper of the day, may have inspired the repeated images.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Quilt
  • Artist: Rebecca Blackwater (Native American, Dakota (Eastern Sioux) or Lakota (Teton Sioux), Santee, Nebraska, or Rosebud, South Dakota, active 20th century)
  • Date: ca. 1915
  • Geography: United States, Nebraska or South Dakota, Santee or Rosebud
  • Culture: Dakota (Eastern Sioux) or Lakota (Teton Sioux)
  • Medium: Cotton cloth and thread
  • Dimensions: 70 × 78 in. (177.8 × 198.1 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Woven
  • Credit Line: Collection of Joan and Bill Alfond, Boston
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing