LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 American Indian Art Signature #681  / 

77379

SIOUX CHIEF AMERICAN HORSE & SQUAW CABINET CARD

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:400.00 USD Estimated At:800.00 - 1,200.00 USD
SIOUX CHIEF AMERICAN HORSE & SQUAW CABINET CARD
<B>AMERICAN HORSE (Tasunka Wasicu) AND WIFE, OGLALA LAKOTA<BR><BR></B></I>c. 1883<B><BR></B></I> <BR>Albumen cabinet card, with imprint of Trager and Kuhn, Chadron, Neb. Lettered title in negative at lower left: “Chief American Horse and Squaw.” Corners of mount have been trimmed. Minor soiling to edges of mount; minor paper loss to back surface of mount. Otherwise a fine, clear image. American Horse, married to a daughter of the war chief Red Cloud, was a chief of the Bad Face (<I>Ite Sica</B></I>) band of Oglala, later called the Loafer (<I>Wagluhe</B></I>) band. He was also elevated to the position of an <I>Ongloge Un</B></I> or Shirt Wearer, one of the four leading chiefs of the Oglala. The deerskin garment which signaled this honor, trimmed with beaded bands and locks of human hair, is displayed atop the posing stand at left. Its top half probably was painted blue, representing the Sky, and its bottom half painted yellow-ocher representing the Rock, heart of Mother Earth. In blue-sensitive, 19th-century film emulsions the color yellow printed much darker than any shade of blue, the reason that the bottom of the shirt appears black. Note the stone-headed war club that is held by Mrs. American Horse. This was the shock weapon by which mounted Lakota warriors terrorized their enemies. With its handle three feet long, a man six feet tall could reach and dispatch an enemy more than seven feet away, by lunging over the neck of his racing horse. The Oglala occupy the Pine Ridge Reservation, S.D. Chadron, Nebraska, where the Trager and Kuhn studio was located, is a few miles south. American Horse died Dec. 16, 1908, at the age of 68.<B><BR><BR></B></I><I>Dimensions: 4 ¼ x 6 ½ inches</B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot