Shield Cover
date: label: Accession Date
content: 31 Dec 1867
name: label: Donor Name
content: U.S. Department Of War
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "CAT. BOOK LACKS ANY ENTRY IN "COLLECTOR" COLUMN. LOANED TO JOSLYN ART MUSEUM 12-9-83. RETURNED 4-1-85. LENT TO THE MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS, 8-13-92. LOAN RETURNED: SEE CARD."
label: Notes
content: CATALOGUE NUMBERS 2669 - 2673 HAVE NO DONOR OR COLLECTOR LISTED IN THE ORIGINAL MUSEUM LEDGER BOOKS. 2669 IS TAGGED, AND OBJECT ITSELF MAY ONCE HAVE BEEN MARKED?, "WAR DEPT. 1841." 2670 HAS A VERY OLD 19TH CENTURY MUSEUM TAG MARKED "U.S. WAR DEPT.". BASED ON THAT, IT MAY BE SPECULATED THAT 2669 -2673 ALL CAME FROM THE U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT. - F. PICKERING 4-1-2002
label: Notes
content: This object is illustrated and described in detail on p. 121 of "Visions of the People: A Pictorial History of Plains Indian Life" ed. Evan M. Maurer, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1992: "This large shield has as its central image a red bear's leg and paw with five sharp, curving claws, which represent the animal's awesome power. Two sets of smaller, differently decorated paws extend from one edge of the shield, and a pattern of short black lines that might represent flying bullets fills the other side." Illus. p. 181 and discussed p. 181 and p. 376 in Gilman, Carolyn. 2003. Lewis and Clark across the divide. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books. Identified there: "The animal painted on a shield was understood to be present and could transmit its power to observers. This shield evoked the bears power to protect its owner in battle. The short black lines ... may represent a hail of bullets, which the bear's paw blocks." Illus. Fig. 8, p. 74 in Greene, Candace S., Bonnie Richard and Kirsten Thompson, 2007, "Treaty Councils and Indian Delegations: The War Department Museum Collection," American Indian Art Magazine, 33(1):66-80. Identified there as "Painted shield cover of soft hide with a bundle of dewclaws attached at the top. This piece has been published many times, oriented in various directions, but the construction suggests the correct orientation is with the [red] bear paw reaching up from the bottom (Hamalainen 2007). Turned in this way, the image becomes one of lateral opposition, with the small horned figure at the bottom." Illustrated Fig. 22, p. 37 in Ha¨ma¨la¨inen, Riku. 2010. Bear power motifs on Plains Indian shields = Ba¨renmotive in Schildbemalungen der Plainsindianer. Wyk auf Foehr, Germany: Tatanka Press. Illus. Pl. 37, p. 110 (caption p. 111) in Kramer Karen Janet Catherine Berlo Kathleen E Ash-Milby and Peabody Essex Museum. 2012. Shapeshifting : Transformations in Native American Art. Salem Mass. New Haven Conn: Peabody Essex Museum ; Yale University Press. "A red bear paw with its five distinctive long, sharp, curling claws reaches upward from the foreground, dividing the cover into two lateral fields. On the right, a fairly uniform pattern of horizontal short black lines, possibly representing a hail of bullets, stops short at the center, as if deflected by the paw. Two pairs of smaller bear's claws, each with their own designs facing different directions, are on the other side. A small animal with long, thin, upturned horns is tucked adjacent to the large paw. A dotted, fringed square extends from the top of the cover, with a string of deer dewclaws."
label: Notes
content: This object was on display in the National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Objects of Wonder", 2017 - 2024.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 4 Nov 2024
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Upper Missouri River, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 67A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E2671-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Shield
physicalDescription: label: Diameter - Object
content: 59.7 cm