This watercolor is a study for a subsequent work commissioned by William Walters (CR# 456A). It compositionally corresponds with a painting of Indian boys just learning skills of archery that was painted some years earlier (CR# 457). The figures in this work are adults, and the earnestness of their endeavors is a matter of survival rather than the diversion of boyhood games. The existential importance of their pursuit is evidenced in the distant domestic scenes where teepees are seen, cooking fires abound, and groups of family members are assembled. These are all dependent on the skills of the men with their bows.
The artist; Carrie C. Miller, Annapolis; Mae Reed Porter, Kansas City, MO; [M. Knoedler and Co., New York, NY]; InterNorth Art Foundation, Omaha, NE; present owner
