Robe with Calumet Dancers
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Two dancing men with painted bodies are depicted on this rare hide. The dancers shake rattles and brandish grand calumets (large ceremonial pipes) with elaborate feather pendants. In the center, complex geometric motifs—floating curvilinear shapes, ornate crosses, four-pointed stars, and circles—are interspersed with insects and birds. This painting is believed to be the earliest representation of the Calumet Dance, a ceremony performed throughout the Eastern Plains region.
Artwork Details
- Title: Robe with Calumet Dancers
- Date: ca. 1750
- Geography: United States, Eastern Plains or Western Great Lakes
- Culture: Eastern Plains or Western Great Lakes
- Medium: Native-tanned leather, pigment
- Dimensions: Length: 49 1/4 in. (125.1 cm)
Width: 73 1/4 in. (186.1 cm) - Classification: Hide-Costumes
- Credit Line: Musée du quai Branly, Paris, Made available by the EDF Foundation and Martine & Bruno Roger (71.1934.33.1 D)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing