This exhibition explores the range of perspectives, motivations, and voices involved in building the early holdings of Native American art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition focuses on objects collected in the formative years after 1876 – the year the museum opened its doors to the public. Highlights include an early Navajo (Diné) wearing blanket (1840–60), a pair of important Eastern Woodlands moccasins (early 19th century), and a Plains roach, or headpiece, made of deer and porcupine hair (about 1880–85). Find out more about ‘Collecting Stories’ from the MFA Boston’s website.
Wearing Blanket (1840–60), Native American, Navajo (Diné). Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Roach (c. 1880), Native American (Plains). Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Indians near Fort Laramie (c. 1859), Albert Bierstadt. Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Moccasins (late 18th–early 19th century), Native American (probably Huron). Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Progress Vase, made for the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition (c. 1875), Reed and Barton. Photo: © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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