Necklace And Pendant
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1932
name: label: Donor Name
content: Tom Bacon Rind
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Buckskin thong covered with blue and white glass beads symetrically arranged by twos; at center is discoidel [discoidal] shell pendant, geometrically etched and painted with red color on the obverse. Loaned to Osage Agency 10/1/37 (Bu. Ind. Affairs) Returned Fall 1968".
label: Notes
content: Illus. p. 40 in Bailey, Garrick A., and Daniel C. Swan. 2004. Art of the Osage. Seattle: University of Washington Press/Saint Louis Art Museum. Identified there: "Choker. Shell gorgets - ornamental pendants suspended about the throat - were one of the few universally shared sacred objects among the Osage. Worn only by males, the gorgets carried a symbolism that was constant throughout the tribe. The freshwater mussel shell represents the sun and the red tint painted between the incised lines portrays the blood of life. The lines themselves are suggestive of the sun's rays. Young Osage warriors would have been inspired with courage upon seeing the color red, which represents life's blood and the energy of the sun. The imported Dutch beads are arranged in blue and white pairs, the meaning of which is not clear. The wrinkles on the back of the shell represent the skin of old age to the Osage, who aspire to not only achieve old age but also acquire the signs of it. The shell of the mussel, admired for its ability to travel upstream against the current, represents strength and stamina."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 5 Aug 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Pawhuska, Osage County, Oklahoma, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Osage (Wazhazhe)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 120063
label: USNM Number
content: E364538-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Necklace