Unfinished drawing of a courting scene
Ethnographic Notes
This probably was a courting scene, unfinished. The artist shows himself wrapped in a well-tanned “summer” buffalo robe, the hair removed and the head skin sewn into a “hood,” an idea gleaned from the early French voyageur blanket capotes. Compare Plates 72, 43 & 36. A split feather decorates the hood.This is not a “work” occasion, such as scouting, because the bottom of a “dress-up” string of silver hairplates, attached to the man's head, is shown hanging to the ground. Compare Plate 42. In a closely similar scene, Plate 8, the figure is leading a horse.