Taza

Label

These works represent Native women seen through different lenses and in divergent styles. Cast in bronze (from an original in Indiana limestone), the figure in Allan Houser’s Taza stands upright, wearing an elegant shawl and bearing a contemplative gaze. One of the most prominent Native artists of the twentieth century, Houser is well known for his sculptures, which often include depictions of Native women. The effigy jar, made by a Tohono O’odham maker, merges a female figure with an ear of corn. The combination of womanhood and corn here conveys the importance of both subjects as symbols of survival and social organization. Similar in theme, Jason Garcia’s ceramic tile Corn Maiden #29 is a part of a larger series that depicts young women dressed for the Pueblo corn dance while also highlighting their contemporary lives. Here, a dancer leans against an adobe wall with a television antenna in the background.

From the 2022 exhibition Unbroken: Native American Ceramics, Sculpture, and Design, curated by Dillen Peace '19, Native American Art Intern and Sháńdíín Brown '20, Native American Art Intern 

Course History

NAS 8, Perspectives in Native American Studies, Vera Palmer, Spring 2014

NAS 8, Perspectives in Native American Studies, Vera Palmer, Spring 2014

Exhibition History

Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, October 8, 2011-March 12, 2012.

Perspectives: Native American Art from the Hood Museum of Art's Collection, Perspective in Native Studies, NAS 8, Spring 2014, Vera Palmer, Teaching Exhibition, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 24-June 16, 2014.

Unbroken: Native American Ceramics, Sculpture, and Design, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 22, 2022-March 12, 2023.

Publication History

George P. Horse Capture, Sr., Joe D. Horse Capture, Joseph M. Sanchez, et al., Native American Art at Dartmouth: Hightlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover: Trustees of Dartmouth College, 2011, ill. p. 22 and p. 155, no. 77.

Published References

W. Jackson Rushing III, Allan Houser, An American Master (Chiricahua Apache, 1914-1994), New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2004, p. 190. [cross-reference in limestone]

Provenance

Glenn Green Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico, October, 1995; sold to Harry T. Lewis, Jr., Denver, Colorado; given to present collection, 2009.

This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.

We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu

Subjects