Girl and Jar – San Ildefonso

Edward S. Curtis, Girl and Jar--San Ildefonso, 1905, photogravure, sight 16 ⁵⁄₈ x 12 ¹⁄₄ in. (12.3 x 31.1 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the United States Marshal Service of the U.S. Department of Justice, 1988.5.18

Artwork Details

Title: Girl and Jar – San Ildefonso
Artist: Edward S. Curtis
Printer: Suffolk Engraving Co.
Publisher: Edward S. Curtis
Date: 1905
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sight 16 ⁵⁄₈ x 12 ¹⁄₄ in. (12.3 x 31.1 cm.)
Credit Line: Transfer from the United States Marshal Service of the U.S. Department of Justice
Mediums Description: photogravure
Classifications: Photography
Photomechanical Reproduction
Subjects: Indian
Figure female — bust
Landscape — New Mexico — San Ildefonso
Object — art object — pottery
Object Number: 1988.5.18
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1988.5.18

Artwork Description

Between 1900 and 1930, Edward S. Curtis traveled across the continent photographing more than seventy Native American tribes. The photographs presented daily activities, customs, and religions of a people he called “a vanishing race.” To this end, Curtis often costumed his subjects and set up scenes, mixing tribal artifacts and traditions to match his romanticized vision of the people he studied.

A Democracy of Images: Photographs from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2013