Woman and Child, Showing How the Heads of Children are Flattened

George Catlin, Woman and Child, Showing How the Heads of Children are Flattened, 1837-1839?, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.147
Copied George Catlin, Woman and Child, Showing How the Heads of Children are Flattened, 1837-1839?, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.147
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Artwork Details

Title
Woman and Child, Showing How the Heads of Children are Flattened
Artist
Date
1837-1839?
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group — female and child
  • Indian — Chinook
Object Number
1985.66.147
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.147

Artwork Description

Catlin described this work as a portrait “of a Chinook woman, with her child in her arms, her own head flattened, and the infant undergoing the process . . . which is done by placing its back on a board . . . to which it is lashed with thongs, to a position from which it cannot escape, and the back of the head supported by a sort of pillow, made of moss or rabbit skins, with an inclined piece . . . resting on the forehead of the child.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 48, 1841; reprint 1973)