Clubs

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Clubs

Date

May 11, 1833

Dimensions

8 1/8 × 12 13/16 in. (20.6 × 32.5 cm)

Medium

Graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.315

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Two types of warclubs are depicted in this sketch. The upper club consists of a stone head with a wooden handle, all encased in rawhide with the head left freely swinging - a formidable battle weapon. The notations refer to "leather and red cloth." The wooden club below was a gift to Maximilian from a Ponca man. The original was painted reddish-brown, as the notation on the shaft indicates. The note above the handle says "somewhat too long." In the woodcut version which in Travels in the Interior of North America, the length was corrected. While the note under the club implies either a Sauk or Ponca attribution, a woodcut of the weapon is captioned as Ponca in Maximilian's publication. The actual club is now in the Linden-Museum collection.

References in Journal

May 11, 1833

Labels:

study

Approximate Depicted Location:

Missouri River, South Dakota