Collection: Fenn

Item Number: FCSHIE189

Category: Shield

Region: Plains

Tribe: Crow

Period: 1850-1875

Materials: Glass beads, red wool, paint, dew claw, feathers, buckskin, rawhide.

Description: On the buckskin shield cover a painted horned thunderbird separates the star-studded night sky below from the rainbow sky above. A single dew claw is tied above the horns and five feathers and a horse tail drop hang from the bird's breast. A hawk bell and a few Russian faceted beads adorn the feathers, whose quills are wrapped with buckskin and tied with sinew. The cover cannot be readily removed from the thick buffalo hump shield, so the design is not known although yellow ocher and incised designs can be seen through the insect damaged cover. Rawhide straps on the back provide a handle.

Dimensions: Diameter 23 inches

Provenance:

Marvin Fenn

References:

Hanson, James A., Spirits in the Arts: From the Plains and Soutwest Indian Cultures, The Lowell Press, Kansas City, 1994, pp 19

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