Horse Medicine Bag

Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty Native American

1988

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty, considered by many to be the matriarch of contemporary traditional beadwork, created this bag. An ancient rock drawing near her childhood home on the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana inspired the elongated hourglass designs. For the artist, the motif reflects both the earthly and spiritual worlds. Bags like this one usually contained medicinal plants to treat horses. Draped around the animal’s neck, they also provided protection from injury and illness.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Horse Medicine Bag
Artist: Joyce Growing Thunder Fogarty (Native American, Assiniboine-Sioux, born 1950)
Date: 1988
Geography: United States, Montana
Culture: Assiniboine-Sioux
Medium: Commercial and native-tanned leather, otter skin, rawhide, wool and cotton cloth, ermine skin, glass and brass beads, silk ribbon
Dimensions: Length: 56 in. (142.2 cm)
Width: 27 1/2 in. (69.9 cm)
Classification: Hide-Costumes
Credit Line: Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York, Thaw Collection (T0081a,b)
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing