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Catalog Data

Artist:
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)
Topic:
Figure group\female and child  Search this
Indian\Chinook  Search this
Credit Line:
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Object number:
1985.66.147
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department:
Painting and Sculpture
Data Source:
Smithsonian American Art Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/vk74d909bbf-2608-4a27-94c5-022be7eb9ecf
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:saam_1985.66.147