Woman's Moccasins depicting a Beetle
Tlingit
Northwest Coast
about 1890-1900
Native-tanned hide, glass beads, wool cloth, velvet, thread
Overall: 2 9/16 × 8 7/16 × 2 3/4 in. (6.5 × 21.5 × 7 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Guido R. Rahr, Sr., Class of 1951P
985.47.26640
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Clothing: Footwear
Research Area
Native American
Native American: Northwest Coast
Not on view
Label
The bilaterally symmetrical foliate and seaweed designs of these moccasins are signature elements of Tlingit beadwork. The depiction of beetles on the vamp appears to be unique, though it isn’t uncommon to find examples of eagle or raven motifs in the same position. As an artist deeply involved with the commercial market, the woman who made these would have been attuned to which patterns sold well. The rose-colored velvet and green wool paired with the floral details would have appealed to the Victorian-era woman.
From the 2022 exhibition This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, curated by Jami C. Powell, Curator of Indigenous Art; Barbara J. MacAdam, former Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art; Thomas H. Price, former Curatorial Assistant; Morgan E. Freeman, former DAMLI Native American Art Fellow; and Michael Hartman, Jonathan Little Cohen Associate Curator of American Art
Course History
ANTH 7.05, Animals and Humans, Laura Ogden, Winter 2022
GEOG 31.01, Postcolonial Geographies, Erin Collins, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ANTH 50.05, Environmental Archaeology, Madeleine McLeester, Winter 2022
ARTH 5.01, Introduction to Contemporary Art, Mary Coffey and Chad Elias, Winter 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
ANTH 3.01, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Chelsey Kivland, Summer 2022
SPAN 65.15, Wonderstruck: Archives and the Production of Knowledge in an Unequal World, Silvia Spitta and Barbara Goebel, Summer 2022
Exhibition History
Patterns of Life, Patterns of Art: The Rahr Collection of Native American Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, May 2-June 19, 1987.
This Land: American Engagement with the Natural World, Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 5–May 3, 2022.
Publication History
Barbara A. Hail and Gregory C. Schwarz, Patterns of Life, Patterns of Art: The Rahr Collection of Native American Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 1987, p.78, no.172, ill., p.41.
Provenance
Collected by Guido Reinhardt Rahr, Sr. (1902-1985), Manitowoc, Wisconsin; given to present collection, 1985.
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