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Plains Indian folk art

Southern Cheyenne "Young Howling Wolf" Ledger-style painting on white rabbit skin. 18" x 22"

$650.00

Attributed to Southern Cheyenne, "Young Howling Wolf" replicates ledger-style painting on white rabbit skin, framed in a shadow box with glass front. It may be a Native American creation in origin, but we have not been able to certify that it is. Therefore, we do not present as such.

This style of painting is called "ledger-style" because it mimics a style used by Plains Indians when they painted their stories on discarded bookkeepers' paper, the only material available at the time and place this style was created. It bears a seal that identifies the framer as Taos Gilders. It and its “sister” painting were acquired in 2003 at Wings Hands on Silver Gallery inside Taos Pueblo, Taos, NM, the proprietor of which attributed them to an artist named Carlisle. 18" high by 22" wide. #AGDB93

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Additional Info

Wings Hands on Silver Gallery was located within the Taos Pueblo, giving acquisitions from there a patina of authenticity. Subsequent research about this object and its companion object, have led us to wonder about the original creator of the rabbit skin paintings. First, we know they are NOT original ledger paintings. Accompanying documents identify them as being derived from originals painted by Howling Wolf, a Southern Cheyenne, while incarcerated at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida. He was a captive that had been transported from Oklahoma along with 71 other Indians, primarily Cheyenne and Arapahoe, at the end of the Indian War in the 1870s. The commander of the fort, Lt. Pratt, was sympathetic to the condition of his captives and decided to provide them with ledger pages and colors to keep them busy and easier to supervise. The result of this largesse was an outburst of ledger paintings by Howling Wolf and other captives, and a happier, more compliant band of captives. It appears the artist who created the rabbit skin images was consciously copying the subjects and style of the original Howling Wolf paintings. Since we have yet to determine exactly who that artist was, we cannot in good conscience attribute them with certainty to Native American origin. On the other hand, they are fascinating historical items and make outstanding decor items on their own right. We offer them for sale in that spirit.