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Man's Shirt

ca.1865
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
An impressive war record is represented on this shirt. Pipes on the front refer to the owner’s leadership of eight war parties, while half-figures depict slain enemies. On the back, eleven pipes and ten half-figures appear. The beaded garment—with both quillwork and an elaborate fringe of human and yellow-dyed horsehair—displays the diverse materials used on regalia produced during this period. Thomas Twiss, an Indian agent in the region of Fort Laramie, Wyoming, from 1855 to 1860, may have commissioned the shirt.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Man's Shirt
  • Date: ca.1865
  • Geography: United States, Colorado or Wyoming
  • Culture: Cheyenne
  • Medium: Native-tanned leather, porcupine quills, maidenhair fern, pigment, human hair, horsehair
  • Dimensions: Length: 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm)
    Width: 59 in. (149.9 cm)
  • Classification: Hide-Costumes
  • Credit Line: National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (088034.000)
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing