Robes of Splendor: Native North American Painted Buffalo Hides - Hardcover

Horse Capture, George; Etc.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565841166 ISBN 13: 9781565841161

Publisher: The New Press, 1994

Synopsis

In the late eighteenth century, French explorers returned to their homeland with beautiful works of Native American art. Considered exotic, the painted buffalo hides of the plains tribes were highly valued by the French King Louis XVI and his cabinet and were included in their collections. Now, two centuries later, these Native American masterpieces have been unearthed from the archives of the Muse de l'Homme in Paris and published for the first time in the U.S. Robes of Splendor brings together essays from four leading experts in the field of Native American art and over one hundred photographs from the American Indian collection of the Muse de l'Homme in a comprehensive overview of this American treasure.

About this title

Synopsis:

For centuries, ornamental robes made of buffalo hide were painted by the artists of the many American Indian tribes. In the 18th century many of these ornate robes were brought from America to the French court and were eventually displayed in the Museum of Mankind in Paris. The buffalo hides illustrated in this book have never appeared in published form and represent an extraordinary collection - a tribute to a lost art form. The robes offer an incomparable pictographic representation of early Native American life. Where women tended to paint abstract, geometric patterns, men painted narrative scenes of battles and dances. Both artistic forms played an important role in carrying messages for tribe members and outsiders, and both have powerful visual impact.

About this edition

• Publisher: The New Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 1565841166
• ISBN 13: 9781565841161
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 168