Quirt handle

Unknown

ca. 1860 · Elk antler and pigment · The American Wing

An artist preserved the natural curve of an elk’s antler for the basic shape of this quirt (riding whip) handle. He enhanced it with carvings of feathers, headdresses, and buffalo hooves, filling each with red or black pigment. The object exemplifies the beauty of many of the small tools produced on the Plains in the 1800s. The quirt originally had a wrist strap and a heavy lash.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1860

Medium

Elk antler and pigment

Culture

Eastern Plains, probably Meskwaki, Native American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

The Charles and Valerie Diker Collection of Native American Art, Gift of Charles and Valerie Diker, 2019