“The Plains Indian reveled in finery and wore the best he had for ceremonial occasions. When not doing more immediate chores, the women spent untold hours decorating their husband’ clothing and accoutrements with trade beads and natural items such as bear claws, feathers, quills and pieces of bone, often dyed in bright colors. War bonnets worn by three of these Blackfeet elders were usually reserved for special events. Not often were they worn into combat, where they might be lost in the fury of the fight and perhaps give an enemy some magical power over the rightful owner. The buffalo horn headdress was fairly common and gave the wearer an eerie appearance as he went rushing against an enemy, shouting a war cry calculated to chill his opponent to the bone. In some tribes the man who carried the lance into battle was burdened with a special responsibility not to retreat. For that reason, many warriors shunned the lance as a weapon.” Howard Terpning,
Few artists and their work are relevant for a decade. Howard Terpning has remained so for the 30 years we have published his Fine Art Editions. Since we first issued his limited editions in 1980, Howard Terpning has set the bar in collecting Western art.
To commemorate this achievement, The Greenwich Workshop released a series of Personal Commission Prints that reflected his publishing program with us over the last 30 years. As Personal Commissions, each release was guaranteed to be a Sold-Out Edition, as the edition size is set by the number of orders we receive in the Commission Period.
In 1980, one of the first limited editions we issued with Howard was created from the mixed media original “The Spectators.” Of the over 100 editions we have produced since then, “Council Regalia” would represent only the sixth fine art edition of a Terpning mixed media work.
