cradleboard, unrecorded Ka’igwu artist

Artwork Overview

cradleboard, unrecorded Ka’igwu (Kiowa) artist
cradleboard, unrecorded Ka’igwu (Kiowa) artist
unrecorded Ka’igwu (Kiowa) artist
cradleboard
late 1800s–1928
unrecorded Ka’igwu (Kiowa) artist, artist
cradleboard, late 1800s–1928
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: beading; wood; buckskin; metal; cloth; incising
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 114 x 34 x 26 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 44 7/8 x 13 3/8 x 10 1/4 in
Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial
Accession number: 2007.2310
Not on display
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Label texts

Collection Cards: Collect

Sallie Casey Thayer’s acquisition of Native American objects started around spring 1915, when she traveled to California. Numerous receipts from locations in California indicate Thayer’s wide-ranging purchases, from beaded cradleboards and moccasins to a variety of textiles and baskets. Purchased during her spring 1915 trip, this cradleboard was likely transported to Kansas City by train, along with numerous other Native American works she purchased.

Thayer may have decided to purchase this cradleboard for its distinctive Plains Indian form , one that reinforces ethnic identity. She may also have purchased it for the beauty of its heavily embroidered, glass-bead design, which further emphasizes Native American women’s artistic expressions.

What are some of the ways you think that railroads contributed to the collecting practices of travelers in the United States?

What might be other important factors, in addition to transportation, that facilitate, or perhaps hinder, the development of art collections?

Have you been inspired to collect when travelling or visiting some place new, near or far? If so, what did you collect and how did you bring it back home?

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

Cradleboard designs reflect a need for safety and mobility in the lives of Great Plains people. Cradleboards were engineered to keep babies secure and comfortable, while allowing women freedom to work and travel. They could either be carried by straps on one’s back or easily attached to a saddle or travois.

Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU

Sallie Casey Thayer’s acquisition of Native American art seems to have begun around 1915 with her travels to California that spring. Journeying by railroad, she likely would have encountered works for sale at rail-side shops. Numerous receipts from locations in California indicate Thayer’s wide-ranging purchases, from beaded cradleboards and moccasins to a variety of textiles and baskets. Purchased during her trip in spring 1915, this cradleboard was likely transported to Kansas by rail along with numerous other Native American works Thayer acquired.

Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU

Sallie Casey Thayer’s acquisition of Native American art seems to have begun around 1915 with her travels to California that spring. Journeying by railroad, she likely would have encountered works for sale at rail-side shops. Numerous receipts from locations in California indicate Thayer’s wide-ranging purchases, from beaded
cradleboards and moccasins to a variety of textiles and baskets. Purchased during her trip in spring 1915, this cradleboard was likely transported to Kansas by rail along with numerous other Native American works Thayer acquired.

Thayer may have decided to purchase this cradleboard for its distinctive Plains Indian form, one that reinforces ethnic identity. She may also have purchased it for the beauty of its heavily embroidered, glass-bead design, which further emphasizes women’s artistic expressions.

Although Thayer acquired more than one cradleboard, the first items on this receipt might be for a beaded dress and this cradleboard, or carrier. Typical of her purchases, she acquired several objects at a time. On the back of the receipt, “San Diego” is handwritten in graphite.

Tap the image and swipe to view the receipt.

Tap the image and swipe to view the railroad receipt from 1915, documenting shipment of Native American works purchased by Sallie Casey Thayer in California. This cradleboard likely was part of this shipment.

Google Art Project

Cradleboard designs reflect a need for safety and mobility in the lives of Great Plains people. Cradleboards were engineered to keep babies secure and comfortable, while allowing women freedom to work and travel. They could either be carried by straps on one’s back or easily attached to a saddle or travois.

Exhibition Label:
"Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place," Sep-2011, Nancy Mahaney
Cradleboard designs reflect a need for safety and mobility in the lives of Great Plains people. Cradleboards were engineered to keep babies secure and comfortable, while allowing women freedom to work and travel. They could either be carried by straps on one’s back or easily attached to a saddle or travois.

Archive label, date unknown:
Medium value colors and white outlines characterize Kiowa designs. The curved designs resulted from the influence of Great Lakes tribes who arrived in Oklahoma in the mid-nineteenth century.

Exhibitions

Passages: Persistent Visions of a Native Place
Nancy Mahaney, curator
2011–2012
Google Art Project
2016
Vanished Voices: The Legacy of Northeast Kansas Indians
Joni Murphy, curator
Andrea Norris, curator
2004
Art Minute Tour
2017
Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU
Celka Straughn, curator
2017–2018
Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU
Celka Straughn, curator
2017–2018
Cradleboards from the Collections of the Haskell Cultural Center and Museum and the Spencer Museum of Art
Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator
2018

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 193 Jul-2009, Megan Ampe, Arts and Cultures of the Americas, Africa, and Oceania Intern I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. Crafted by women and used to carry babies, Kiowa cradleboards blend utility and artistry. The Spencer collection features a lovely example of a richly embroidered, lattice style cradleboard made by an unknown Kiowa artist before 1905. It is fashioned of a hide cover laced to two narrow pointed boards with crosspieces at the top and bottom creating a lattice. The leather is entirely covered by glass beads carefully embroidered onto its surface. The beadwork forms floral and geometric shapes, and the beaded background on each side of the cradleboard is of a different color. The design’s asymmetrical nature may indicate the maker’s integration of stylistic techniques from the Delaware tribe. Traditional cradleboards, such as this one, helped to reinforce ethnic identity and emphasize women's artistic expression. These exquisite and practical works of art are among the most beautiful expressions of Plains Indian bead design of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With thanks to Megan Ampe for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.

Links

VIEW a tour of Sallie Casey Thayer's collecting trip to California on HistoryPin