Edward S. Curtis "Hidatsa Bull-Boat" Original Photogravure on Tissue, 1908

Details

Description

An original photogravure from Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian. Hidatsa Bull-Boat shows a bull-boat resting at the edge … Read more An original photogravure from Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian. Hidatsa Bull-Boat shows a bull-boat resting at the edge of a broad, still river below a rocky, wooded bank, the water bright under a pale sky. A bull-boat was made by stretching a buffalo hide over a bowl-shaped frame of bent willow branches, and the Hidatsa used them on the Missouri River. Curtis made the photograph in 1908, and it was published in 1909 in Volume 4, which covers the Apsaroke, or Crow, and the Hidatsa.

From Volume 4, facing page 140. Printed on Japanese gampi tissue, one of the three papers used for the original subscriber sets, and still in its original Holland Van Gelder mount. The thin, smooth tissue holds the fine detail of the gravure and gives it a warm tone. Titled in the plate lower left (HIDATSA BULL-BOAT), with "From Copyright Photograph 1908 by E.S. Curtis" in the plate below the image.

Image: 5 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches. Sheet: 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches.

Provenance: the Christopher G. Cardozo Collection. The collection's inventory number is written in pencil on the verso.

A vintage impression from the original publication, not a later restrike. Sold unframed, ready to mat and frame. See less