Plains Indian Art of The Early Reservation Era: The Donald Danforth Jr Collection at the Saint Louis Art Museum

The Saint Louis Art Museum recently published Plains Indian Art of the Early Reservation Era, an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural examination of one of the Midwest's great public collections of Native American art. In 2010, Carolyn Danforth gave the museum 251 works of Plains Indian art collected by her late husband, Donald Danforth Jr. The catalogue examines not only Donald Danforth Jr. and his sensibilities as a collector of Native American art, but also situates the artworks as evidence of remarkable creativity in the context of tumultuous historical change.St. Louis businessman and philanthropist Donald Danforth Jr. (1932-2001) developed a love for Native American culture and the West in his childhood. He later amassed a collection made by members of Indigenous groups from the Plains and Plateau when Native Americans were adapting their mobile, equestrian lifestyles to the confines of reservations. The Danforth Collection is particularly strong in beadwork and quillwork on hide, including moccasins, pipe bags, assorted bags, pouches and cases, jewelry, children's items and horse regalia. Highlights include Lakota (Sioux) moccasins, a Transmontane parfleche, an Inde (Apache) dress and an Apsáalooke (Crow) martingale.