On view
American Art
Wilmerding Pavilion
Philip & Nancy Anschutz Gallery
Wilmerding Pavilion
Philip & Nancy Anschutz Gallery
Samoan Dancing a Standing Siva,
1909
John La Farge, 1835–1910; born New York, NY; died Newport, RI
2017-233
Inspired by La Farge’s trip to Polynesia in 1890–91, this stained-glass panel formed part of his last commission, a series of six windows with allegorical themes for the Merion, Pennsylvania, home of Edward W. Bok, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal. Representing “Dance,” it depicts a male youth performing the siva fa’ataupati, a type of Samoan dance in which one arm is extended while the other is slapped against the chest. The window was made in a process known as cloisonné, a method pioneered in stained glass by La Farge, in which small chips of glass are heated in a kiln and fused together to form larger pieces, which are joined by thin filaments of metal that separate one color from another.
Information
Title
Samoan Dancing a Standing Siva
Dates
1909
Maker
Medium
Cloisonné stained glass
Dimensions
43.2 × 35.6 cm (17 × 14 in.)
frame: 58.9 × 51.9 × 6.7 cm (23 3/16 × 20 7/16 × 2 5/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Oliver LaFarge Hamill
Object Number
2017-233
Place Made
North America, United States
Culture
Materials
Techniques
Subject
Created for Edward Bok, Philadelphia; Mrs. Curtis Bok; purchase, Anthony Stuempfig, Philadelphia, ca. 1980; with Hirschl & Adler, New York, ca. 1980-82; purchased by donor at Skinner’s, Boston, Sale 1258, May 19, 1989.
