Flathead Child
Artist
Paul Kane
(Canadian, 1810 - 1871)
Date1847
Mediumwatercolor and pencil on paper
Dimensions5 5/8 x 4 1/16 inches (14.3 x 10.3 cm)
Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965
Object number31.78.106
ClassificationsPaintings
Label Text"This process commences with the birth of the infant, and is continued for a period of from eight to twelve months, by which time the head has lost its natural shape, and acquired that of a wedge: the front part of the skull flat and higher at the crown, giving it a most unnatural appearance.... This unnatural operation does not, however seem to injure the health, the mortality amongst the Flathead children not being perceptibly greater than amongst other Indian tribes; nor does it seem to injure their intellect." Kane, Wanderings, Chapter XII
ProvenanceArtist; by descent to his grandson, Paul Kane III [1889-1958], Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; purchased September 17, 1957 through (Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York, New York) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
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