Hampton Institute Drawings - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

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Nº25 Friendly Encounter

Ethnographic Notes

“These man are been fighting but they wanted too be Friend/ theres one Indian Chief and one/ white man Cap! you see Capt and/ Chief are trying shaking hand that is all/ Frank Pamani” (Artist’s inscription, verso)

“This drawing depicts the meeting of a United States cavalryman and a mounted Sioux warrior. That the meeting is peaceful is shown by the tipped hat of the soldier and the extended right arm of the warrior. The warrior appears with the paraphernalia of his warrior society, probably the Cante Tinza or Brave Hearts, for the split-horn headdress with long feather trailers is specific to that society. Other of their items include the shield with long feather trailers, the sword, and the long sash worn over the right shoulder and flowing down the left side. Those officers of a society who wore the sash were required in a battle to stake the sash into the ground in front of the enemy lines. Only if a comrade pulled up the stake could they flee, otherwise they were required to fight to their death. Thus, the sash was the sign of an extremely brave man.” (p.39)

William S. Wierzbowski and Helen M. Mangelsdorf in Images of a Vanished Life: Plains Indian Drawing from the Collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1985.


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Provenance

Drawings made in 1879 by students at the Hampton Institute, Virginia. Donated to the Pennsylvania Academy of ...

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Document Info
Plate No: 28
Page No: 1982_X_168
Media: Pencil, ink, watercolor on cream tagboard
Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 11 1/16 in.
Custodian
Credit line: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.
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