George Catlin, Scalp Dance, Mouth of the Teton River
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. · Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian Open Access (CC0)View original →
George Catlin

Scalp Dance, Mouth of the Teton River

1835-1837

Current Collection

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Washington, D.C., United States

Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
50.9 × 69.4 cm
Status
In Museum Collection
Collect24 Art ID
C24-136497

“The Scalp-dance is given as a celebration of a victory; and amongst this tribe [Western Sioux/Lakota], as I learned whilst residing with them, danced in the night, by the light of their torches, and just before retiring to bed. When a war party returns from a war excursion, bringing home with them the scalps of their enemies, they generally ‘dance them’ for fifteen nights in succession, vaunting…

Provenance

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.

Registry history

  • 1835-1837 — Recorded in the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum

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