Vase, Chief Shavehead

During the late nineteenth century, as Indigenous peoples were displaced onto reservations and their land and lifeways denied to them, white settler manufacturers capitalized on their likeness and cultural heritage. In design magazines, living rooms were shown filled with Native baskets, rugs, and ceramics, as well as images of Native people rendered in sculpture, photography, and decorative objects made by white artists.

Grace Young, an artist employed by the woman-owned Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio, was noted for her portraits of Indigenous people. These were often copied from likenesses taken by white photographers, as seen on this vase with the image of an Arapaho individual identified as “Shavehead.” On this amber-hued vase, Young portrayed him as a dignified leader, a design that was particularly attractive to white consumers.