George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872 Search this
Medium:
oil on canvas
Dimensions:
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Type:
Painting
Date:
1837-1839?
Luce Center Label:
Catlin described this work as a portrait “of a Chinook woman, with her child in her arms, her own head flattened, and the infant undergoing the process . . . which is done by placing its back on a board . . . to which it is lashed with thongs, to a position from which it cannot escape, and the back of the head supported by a sort of pillow, made of moss or rabbit skins, with an inclined piece . . . resting on the forehead of the child.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 48, 1841; reprint 1973)