Painting of a woman in a red cloak, smoking a pipe. [SM 18/03/2008]

Collection type: Object
Description: Painting of a woman in a red cloak, smoking a pipe. [SM 18/03/2008]
Long description: Painting of a woman in a red cloak, smoking a pipe. The painting is framed and is signed NORA FIELD 95 [SM 18/03/2008]
Geographical reference: Canada
Northern America > North America > Canada
Cultural groups: Blackfoot Confederacy; Kainai
Person: Maker A. Nora Foote; Field collector Unknown Collector; PRM source Margaret B. Foote
Date / Period: Date made: 1895?, uncertain
Date collected: By 1984
Acquisition information: Donated: 1981 - 1983, uncertain
Materials and processes: Material Oil Paint, Material Canvas Textile, Material Wood Plant, Material Pigment, Process Painted, Process Woven
Dimensions: Height 640 mm framed, Width 540 mm framed
Object numbers: Accession number: 1984.19.4
Research and responses: Frank Weasel Head, a Kainai spiritual advisor and founder of the Mookaakin Culture and Heritage Foundation, examined this record on 2 February 2004 and requested that 'squaw' not be used, as it is a derogatory term. The Museum no longer uses this terminology but it does appear in historic documents, transcripts of which appear in this record. The Museum would like to apologise for any offence the appearance of this term in this record may cause. [ZM 4/2/2004]
Caption prepared for The Public Catalogue Foundation: "Nora Foote, an English artist, visited the Blood Reserve in Alberta, Canada, in 1895. The portrait of a woman is one several she painted there. The woman has wrapped herself in a red blanket, a so-called Point Blanket, as sold by the Hudson's Bay Company. The short black lines visible near her foot were known as 'points' and indicated the size of the blanket - the bigger the blanket, the more lines were woven in. The broad black stripes were known as headings. Some of the finger joints of the woman's left hand have been cut off. This shows that the woman was a widow, her fingers having been cut off as part of a mourning ritual. Widows also cut their hair short, painted their skin and clothes with white clay, and cut themselves. They also performed mourning chants for some time after the husband's death" [FB 15/11/2012]
Associated publications: Illustrated in colour on page 271 of The Colleges (R–W), The University, The Rhodes Trust, Vol. 2 of Oil Paintings in Public Ownership in Oxford University (London: The Public Catalogue Foundation, 2015). NB The image appears with a minimal caption, with further details appearing on page 298. For the online version, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/galleries/locations/the-pitt-rivers-museum-university-of-oxford-7496 [JC 18 11 2015]

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