A PLAINS BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH UNSTUFFED PAD SADDLE

UPPER MISSOURI/METIS

Details

A PLAINS BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH UNSTUFFED PAD SADDLE
UPPER MISSOURI/METIS
Of classic form, constructed of Indian tanned hide, sinew sewn, glass seed beads in white, blue, black, geodesic, translucent red and green and iridescent white, red wool, blue silk, blue faceted basket beads, decorated with floral motifs
26½ x 24¾in. (67.3 x 62.8cm.)

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

"The bisymmetrical beaded corner designs on this unstuffed man's saddle, with their in- and out-curved spirals and stylized flower and leaf forms, are simplified reproductions, produced at a distance, of the more elaborate multipart floral designs and solidly beaded corners made by Plains Cree or Ojibwa women.

The cross-fertilization of forms and motifs on the Plateau and Northern Plains makes secure identification of such pieces difficult," (Peterson, 1993, p. 129).

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