On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Upsichtä́, Mandan Man
Karl Bodmer Swiss
Not on view
When time permitted, Bodmer’s sitters often spent hours preparing for their portraits. Face-paint designs, hairstyles, and attire communicated a person’s status, achievements, and personal taste. Mirrors were essential toiletries that Mandan and Hidatsa men carried everywhere, according to Maximilian. He belittled this practice, misunderstanding it as vain and unmanly. However, mirrors spoke to the dignity with which Northern Plains men comported themselves. These trade items accrued additional meaning within an Indigenous context, often stitched onto regalia and affixed to ceremonial items. Upsichtäì (Great Darkness) secured a mirror to the interior of an eagle-wing fan.
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