2014 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 88
Verso:
Titled with typed description
Of this painting, Tom Lovell wrote, “In the old days before the advent of the white man and the horse, especially trained members of many plains tribes practiced buffalo ‘calling.’ The caller, moving on foot under his mantle of buffalo hide, would work his way close to the herd and simulate the sounds of a calf in distress. If successful, several cows would begin to follow and eventually the whole herd would be set in motion and lured into the trap. The trap, a funnel-shaped line of rock and brush piles, led to the brink of a cliff. Once within the jaws of the trap, villagers who had been lying in wait would spring up with yells and robe waving, stampeding the herd over the brink.
“When the action was properly launched, the caller would make his exit to one side, by now on a dead run. Even after the acquisition of the horse, some callers continued to work on foot, as shown in the painting.”
PROVENANCE:
Oklahoma Publishing Company, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Property from a Private Collection