Horse Effigy
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Ten red triangles represent the bleeding wounds of this lunging horse in its last moments of life. Renowned artist and veteran warrior Joseph No Two Horns is believed to have created the work, and it is one of the most widely known and celebrated of all Plains Indian sculptures. Successful warriors danced with horse effigies such as this in performances to honor their animal companions.
Artwork Details
- Title: Horse Effigy
- Artist: He Nupa Wanica/ Joseph No Two Horns (Hunkpapa Lakota/ Teton Sioux, 1852–1942)
- Date: ca. 1880
- Geography: United States, Standing Rock Reservation, North or South Dakota
- Culture: Hunkpapa Lakota (Teton Sioux)
- Medium: Wood (possibly cottonwood), pigment, commercial and native-tanned leather, rawhide, horsehair, brass, iron, bird quill
- Dimensions: Length: 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm)
- Classification: Wood-Sculpture
- Credit Line: South Dakota State Historical Society, Pierre (1974.002.122)
- Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing