Scraper
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.A richly colored patina, highly polished surface, and unusual pictorial imagery distinguish this scraper, a women’s tool for cleaning and dressing animal hides. At the top of the handle are five soldiers rendered in a Euro-American style, and at the bottom is a head of a man with raised hair and wavy lines that emanate from it, suggesting supernatural power. It is likely this object was made for a ritual function, rather than everyday use.
Artwork Details
- Title: Scraper
- Date: ca. 1820
- Geography: United States, Nebraska
- Culture: Iowa
- Medium: Elk antler, pigment
- Dimensions: Length: 15 3/4 in. (40 cm)
- Classification: Horn-Implements
- Credit Line: Collection of Ronald E.Van Anda
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing