An early Lakota winter-count on muslin
The Lazelle Winter-Count.
Pictographic calendar on muslin, 109.5 x 80 cm. Unframed.
€ 75.000,00
A contemporary copy of a late eighteenth-century Lakota winter-count of the keeper Boíde, executed with his assistance by the U.S. Cavalry Lieutenant Henry Reed of Fort Sully. Lakota winter-count keepers were responsible for remembering the years in order, and produced pictographic tables to assist in recalling them. This example, the twin of another copy now in the Smithsonian, played a crucial role in establishing a link between the Lakota and western calendars.
Boíde's winter-count spans the years 1786-87 to 1876-77 and refers to battles, treaties and natural events, notably the Leonid meteor storm of 1833 ("the year the stars fell"), which provided a point of comparison between chronologies that was used by Garrick Mallery in his seminal analysis of winter-counts.
The pictograms wind up in a serpentine from the bottom right, so that the next line is read left-to-right, then right-to-left again (boustrophedon). Winter-counts were traditionally kept on buffalo-skins, but as these became rarer, muslin or other materials began to be used instead. The transmission of the historical tradition occurred both orally and graphically, with Boíde drawing on many of the pictograms from the celebrated count of Lone Dog.
Around 100 winter-counts are known, nearly all in institutional collections. This example was acquired by Captain Henry Lazelle during his time at Fort Sully between 1875 and 1878 and was subsequently handed down through his family. It thus represents a considerable rarity, as few winter-counts with such clearly documented origins and provenances are available in private collections. A culturally resonant artifact that preserves Lakota historical memory across nine decades.
Acquired at Fort Sully by Captain Henry Martyn Lazelle (1832-1917); by descent in the Lazelle family. Lattery in the collection of Richard Pohrt, Jr.
A few stains and old fold-lines from storage but overall in very good condition.
Cf. Garrick Mallery, “Pictographs of the North American Indians”, Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (1882/83). The same, “Picture Writing of the American Indians”, Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology (1888/89). Candace S. Greene & Russell Thornton, The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian, 2007.
