Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). <em>Sacajawea Place Setting</em>, 1974–1979. Runner: Cotton/linen base fabric, cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, tanned deerskin, glass beads, thread
Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint) and acrylic matte paint, tanned deerskin, beads, Runner: 51 3/4 x 30 1/8 in. (131.4 x 76.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-28. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-28_plate_PS9.jpg)

Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). Sacajawea Place Setting, 1974–1979. Runner: Cotton/linen base fabric, cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, tanned deerskin, glass beads, thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint) and acrylic matte paint, tanned deerskin, beads, Runner: 51 3/4 x 30 1/8 in. (131.4 x 76.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-28. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-28_plate_PS9.jpg)

DOWNLOAD

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell me about this plate.

This plate represents Sacajawea. The part extending from the top of the plate is based on a cradleboard, which refers to how she carried her son on her back while leading the Western expedition of Lewis and Clark.

For both the plate and runner, Judy Chicago took inspiration from Shoshone art. The abstract linear patterns in the plate reflect the type of patterns that Shoshone women use especially in rawhide paintings. The runner is made from hand tanned deer skins and 40,000 seed beads in patterns that come from Shoshone dress.

Who's this?

Sacajawea, which translates in Hidatsa to “Bird Woman,” was born to the Shoshone Tribe in Idaho. She was an essential member of Lewis and Clark's expedition to discover routes through the North American West to the Pacific Ocean. She was the daughter of a Shoshone Chief, captured at 12 by an enemy tribe and then sold to a Canadian Trapper, who became her husband. Because of her background, she served as an interpreter for the expedition.

Sacajawea Place Setting

Judy Chicago

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

On View: Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

ARTIST Judy Chicago, American, born 1939

MEDIUM Runner: Cotton/linen base fabric, cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, tanned deerskin, glass beads, thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint) and acrylic matte paint, tanned deerskin, beads

DATES 1974–1979

DIMENSIONS Runner: 51 3/4 x 30 1/8 in. (131.4 x 76.5 cm) Plate: 25 1/8 x 14 x 2 1/2 in. (63.8 x 35.6 x 6.4 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 2002.10-PS-28

CREDIT LINE Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

CAPTION Judy Chicago (American, born 1939). Sacajawea Place Setting, 1974–1979. Runner: Cotton/linen base fabric, cotton twill tape, silk, synthetic gold cord, tanned deerskin, glass beads, thread Plate: Porcelain with overglaze enamel (China paint) and acrylic matte paint, tanned deerskin, beads, Runner: 51 3/4 x 30 1/8 in. (131.4 x 76.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of The Elizabeth A. Sackler Foundation, 2002.10-PS-28. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2002.10-PS-28_plate_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2002.10-PS-28_plate_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

The Brooklyn Museum holds a non-exclusive license to reproduce images of this work of art from the rights holder named here. The Museum does not warrant that the use of this work will not infringe on the rights of third parties. It is your responsibility to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions before copying, transmitting, or making other use of protected items beyond that allowed by "fair use," as such term is understood under the United States Copyright Act. For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org. If you wish to contact the rights holder for this work, please email copyright@brooklynmuseum.org and we will assist if we can.

RECORD COMPLETENESS

Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.

Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Tell me about this plate.

Who's this?