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Photography by Dwight Primiano

Buffalo Hunt. Summer Scene of an Assiniboine Indian Hunting on Horseback

Buffalo are central to Plains Indian cultures. Buffalo hunts were important events with specific protocols within the Assiniboine and other Plains tribes. In an unusual circumstance in 1830, the Hudson’s Bay Company staged a buffalo hunt specifically for Swiss artist Peter Rindisbacher to paint. These resulting paintings are some of the earliest European depictions of a Plains buffalo hunt.

ArtistPeter Rindisbacher, Swiss, 1806–1834
Dateca. 1830
MediumWatercolor on paper
Dimensions9 1/2 x 16 1/4 in. (24.1 x 41.3 cm)
Signedl.r., in image, printed: P. Rindisbacher
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.98
ClassificationWatercolor
ProvenanceHampton L. Carson, 1896; by descent; (William Reese Company, New Haven, CT); purchased by a private foundation for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2005
On ViewNo
Buffalo Hunt. Summe…9.5 × 16.3 in.Tennis Ball2.7 in. diameter

This artwork's face covers about 21× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.