A SIOUX PICTOGRAPHIC PAINTED MUSLIN TIPI LINER

PROBABLY SIOUX HUNKPAPA

Details

A SIOUX PICTOGRAPHIC PAINTED MUSLIN TIPI LINER
PROBABLY SIOUX HUNKPAPA
Constructed of four pieces of muslin in a rectangular form, finely drawn in black ink and painted in yellow, orange, brown and purple, depicted in seven registers and documenting life and ceremonies of the Sioux, the majority of images relate in particular to various battles, war raids and skirmishes involving the Sioux, the two uppermost registers reading from left to right show Sioux Indians charging on horseback, scalping their enemy, scouting their enemy, engaged in hand to hand combat on horseback, the central register elaborately portrays the Sioux attacking an enemy's campsite, scouting their enemy and hunting, the bottom three registers again depicts Sioux engaged in various stages and situations of battles, including horse raiding, all figures wear typical costume including some figures wearing war headdresses, split horn headdresses, roaches, leggings, war shirts, breech cloths and carrying shields, rifles, knives, lances, bows and arrows, throughout the entire pictograph inscriptions in the Sioux language accompany various images
69 x 127in. (175.4 x 322.5cm.)

Lot Essay

this elaborate pictographic muslin has been attributed to Mato Luta (Red Bear), a Sioux Hunkpapa. During the Sioux-Cheyenne campaign, the leader of the Hunkpapa was the famous chief, Sitting Bull, known for defeating U.S. Military in 1876 in the battle of the Little Bighorn. It is believed that this work was created at Fort Yates, on the west bank of the Missouri river, in North Dakota during the final years of Sioux-Cheyenne campaign.

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