War record
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Plains men have recorded their battle exploits for centuries. On stone, animal hide, fabrics and paper, and through sculpture, warrior-artists featured their bravest moments to gain honor among their peers. Two Lakota artists painted this hide to memorialize a battle with the Apsa’alooka (Crow). It shows only events in which the Lakota were victorious, identifying individual warriors by depicting them in full regalia with weaponry, shields, and clothing.
The attention paid to horses is evident in the clipped and wrapped tails, split ears, and scalplocks hanging from their bridles. The artists gracefully captured the elegant movement of the animals in a variety of combat situations, creating a document of the centrality of the horse in Plains culture and the interdependent relationship between the warrior and his horse in battle.
The attention paid to horses is evident in the clipped and wrapped tails, split ears, and scalplocks hanging from their bridles. The artists gracefully captured the elegant movement of the animals in a variety of combat situations, creating a document of the centrality of the horse in Plains culture and the interdependent relationship between the warrior and his horse in battle.
Artwork Details
- Title: War record
- Artist: Lakota/Teton Sioux artist
- Date: ca. 1880
- Geography: United States, North or South Dakota
- Culture: Lakota (Sioux)
- Medium: Hide, pigment
- Dimensions: H. 98 × W. 93 in. (248.9 × 236.2 cm)
- Classification: Hide-Documents
- Credit Line: Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, NY (T0049)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing