Lot 100
100
A SUPERB NORTHERN PLAINS BEADED AND FRINGED HIDE WOMAN'S DRESS
A SUPERB NORTHERN PLAINS BEADED AND FRINGED HIDE WOMAN'S DRESS

PROBABLY BLACKFOOT

Details
A SUPERB NORTHERN PLAINS BEADED AND FRINGED HIDE WOMAN'S DRESS
PROBABLY BLACKFOOT
Of elegant porportion, constructed of Indian tanned hide, sinew sewn with glass pony beads in white, blue and black, faceted basket beads in blue and black, Russian trade beads translucent and blue, white porcelain beads, olivella shells, red, green and black wool, glass seed beads, red dyed porcupine quillwork and metal thimble, with open sleeves and uneven hemline, decorated with circle discs on shoulder and three rows of scalloped beadwork, fringe overall
58¼ x 65¼in. (148 x 165.8cm.)
Provenance
Collected by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet, 1859, and gifted to the ancestors of the current owners.
Literature
Peterson, 1993, p. 128
Exhibited
Washington State University, Sacred Encounters, Father De Smet and the Indians of the Rocky Mountain West, 1993

Lot Essay

"This dress was one of several presents sent by De Smet to Belgian relatives and patrons following the meeting in 1859 between General Harney and Plateau chiefs at Fort Vancouver. The cut of the yoke, the pony-bead circles at shoulders, and the uneven hem line all suggest Blackfeet manufacture. De Smet may have acquired the dress on his return trip to St. Louis at Fort Benton, on the upper Missouri River," (Peterson, 1993, p. 129).

More from American Indian Art

View All
View All