Vase, Chief Shavehead
Decorative Arts and Design
Rookwood Pottery Company introduced Indian figural decoration in the mid-1880s, when white Americans became increasingly aware of the plight of the Native American peoples. Artists romanticized an idyllic past when Indians lived in harmony with nature and were often inspired by contemporary photography of Native Americans. Vases with Indian figures are among the pieces most prized by Rookwood collectors today.
MEDIUM
Earthenware
DATES
ca. 1899
DIMENSIONS
15 1/2 × 6 × 6 in. (39.4 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm)
mount: 15 1/2 × 6 × 6 in. (39.4 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm)
(show scale)
MARKINGS
Impressed on bottom: "[stamp consisting of reversed 'RP' monogram surrounded by 13 flames] / 856 / B"
Incised by hand on bottom, in script: "- Shavehead - / - Arapahoe - "
SIGNATURE
no signature
INSCRIPTIONS
no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER
84.176.4
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Lewis
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Vase, slender oviform vase with flared neck decorated with portrait of an Indian brave in profile wearing full-feathered headdress and striped blanket in shades of ochre, green, brown and deep orange, on a dark brown ground.
CONDITION: Drilled. Some scratches to glaze, especially lower part of Indian.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Grace Young (American, 1869–1947). Vase, Chief Shavehead, ca. 1899. Earthenware, 15 1/2 × 6 × 6 in. (39.4 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Lewis, 84.176.4. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 84.176.4_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 84.176.4_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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This is epic.
I agree, that's a really striking piece. Several works in that room show American artists' (and audiences') interest in Native American art and identity.
Rookwood Pottery was a major American ceramics company of the late 1800s and early 1900s. They produced a series of works decorated with images of Native Americans around the turn of the century. Rookwood's artists used photographs of Native American individuals as source material and they copied the photos to create these decorations.
