Scalp dance - Sioux

Catlin, George (1796-1872)


Item type:
painting
Date of creation:
1861
Height:
46.3 cm  (18 1/4 in.)
Width:
62.1 cm  (24 7/16 in.)
Technique / Medium:
oil on cardboard

    Item location

  • National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC)
    [Museum inv. no.: 1965.16.5]

Description

Eighteen men dancing. No instrument representation. --- From the artist's own catalog: This dance is performed on fifteen successive nights by a war party returning from battle with scalps; it is danced only by those who have brought scalps, and these trophies are elevated by young girls who occupy the center of the dance. By this exciting exhibition in presence of the whole village, the exploits of their warriors, who have no newspapers or records, are efficiently published and recorded.

RIdIM images


Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

4069