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Edward Sheriff Curtis

Cheyenne Footwear

1927

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The intricate beadwork on a pair of moccasins and leggings belonging to a Cheyenne individual form the central focus of this image by Edward Sheriff Curtis. Curtis often recorded details of the dress, architecture, ceremonies, and labor customs of Indigenous communities, leaving individual identities outside of the frame. In his multivolume photographic publication The North American Indian, these images accompany texts on the histories, religions, and languages of Native American nations that Curtis compiled with a team of ethnologists, photographic assistants, and collaborating members of Native communities. His project was funded by the financier John Pierpont Morgan (1836–1914), whose railroad enterprises promoted the white settlement of the American West and the dislocation of Native American nations. [Permanent Collection Label, 2022]

  • Artist Edward Sheriff Curtis (American, 1868–1952)
  • Title Cheyenne Footwear
  • Date 1927
  • Medium Photogravure on Van Gelder paper
  • Dimensions image | 7 9/16 x 5 5/8 in.
    plate | 9 x 6 5/8 in.
    sheet | 12 3/8 x 9 1/2 in.
  • Credit line Gift of Stephen Bunyard in honor of Megan D. Swider, 2005
  • Object number WU 2005.0010.0019.0014

Martín Chambi and Edward Sheriff Curtis
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 11/11/2022 - 11/21/2024

7/11/2005
Stephen P. Bunyard

Inscription Recto LC below image printed: From Copyright Photograph 1927 by E. S. Curtis

Inscription Recto LL below image printed: CHEYENNE FOOTWEAR

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