The Ledger Art Collection
Plains ledger art was adopted as a means of historical representation for the Indian peoples of the Great Plains during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Although the Plains Indians had no written language in which to record their history, they did have a long tradition of preserving oral histories pictorially. For centuries, Plains Indian men kept historical records of their tribes, first with petroglyphs and pictographs on rock walls, and then painted on buffalo hides.
Visit the newly refreshed exhibit Tian Chao, or “heavenly dynasty,” a selection of objects from MPM’s China Decorative Arts collection. See an intricately carved elephant tusk from the mid-19th century, a striking Late Qing Dynasty porcelain table top displaying nine colorful dragons, and other priceless and unique artifacts.