Robe with Box-and-Border Design
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Painted by a female artist, the embellishment on this traditional women’s robe is a classic Arapaho example of the box-and-border design. A glowing field of color, continuous rainbowlike border, and elaborate, precisely painted elements distinguish the garment. Three elongated, inverted triangular forms extend from the bottom of the rectangular box. Arapaho artists are known for their dramatic use of color, illustrated here by both the expanse of luminous yellow in the robe’s central field and the soft red ocher along its outer edges.
Artwork Details
- Title: Robe with Box-and-Border Design
- Date: ca. 1865
- Geography: United States, Colorado
- Culture: Northern Arapaho
- Medium: Native-tanned leather, pigment
- Dimensions: Length: 69 in. (175.3 cm)
Width: 96 in. (243.8 cm) - Classification: Hide-Costumes
- Credit Line: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Purchased from Mrs. Owen Stephens (45-15-706)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing