A PLAINS BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH STUFFED PAD SADDLE

UPPER MISSOURI/METIS

Details

A PLAINS BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH STUFFED PAD SADDLE
UPPER MISSOURI/METIS
Of classic form, constructed of Indian tanned hide, sinew sewn with glass seed beads in white, black, yellow, pink, orange, blue, green, iridescent white and translucent red, faceted basket beads in blue, red and green wool, blue silk and tin cone suspensions, decorated overall with an elaborate floral design and striped tabs
21 x 30in. (53.4 x 76.2cm.)

Provenance

Collected by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and gifted to the ancestors of the current owners.

Lot Essay

Pad saddles were commonly used by the Plains Indian hunters. Many of them were produced for the Indian trade by women in the Metis settlements near the trading posts. The beadwork on this pad saddle is typical for Missouri Metis work of the 1850s. Father De Smet frequently visited Fort Pierre in the Dakotas, which was the trade center of a Metis band that had become part of the Yankton Sioux tribe. Father De Smet's collecting activities are referred to in Chittenden and Richardson, 1905.

Ted Brasser March 14, 2000

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