George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA - Ball Play (La Crosse) - n.d. - T-Shirt

This hand-coloured lithograph by George Catlin shows Native American men in a fast, crowded match of stickball, the traditional game now known as lacrosse.

Visual Elements & Composition

The plate is a horizontal rectangle framed like a printed page, and it is built around movement. Players with feathered headdresses and bare torsos run across an open field toward goal posts, with a dense crowd of players pressing into the middle distance. Soft sage green and sandy tan dominate the field and sky, with pale sky grey, terracotta brown and cream filling in the rolling hills and trees behind the action. The printed text reads "No. 23." and "BALL PLAY.", with the publisher's line for Tomas Ashermann's Lithographic Rooms, 347 Broadway, N.Y., and the artist's credit "Catlin. del."

Meaning & Symbolism

For many nations the ball game was far more than sport. It could stand in for armed conflict, settle disputes, and strengthen alliances between communities, so the crowds and physical intensity in the scene reflect its place in ceremonial and political life. Catlin travelled among many indigenous nations in the nineteenth century and dedicated his work to recording their customs and appearances, which he feared were disappearing under Western expansion. This plate is part of that effort, a visual record of a game woven into the fabric of the people who played it, long before its modern form.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A tee carries this scene across the chest, so the crowd and goal posts read as the wearer moves through the day. The composition's wide, open field suits a shirt's broad front, letting the running players and rolling landscape stay legible at a glance.