![[WESTERN]. A group of materials relating to May Lillie and Pawnee Bill.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2006/NYR/2006_NYR_01680_0180_000(122158).jpg?w=1)
Details
[WESTERN]. A group of materials relating to May Lillie and Pawnee Bill.
Framed pair of buckskin cuffs decorated with a painted floral pattern along with five tarock cards with bullet holes. May wore the cuffs while performing in Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show in 1912 and used the cards as targets to show her prowess as a sharp shooter. The cards and cuffs were given to a spectator identified as Grandfather Wills on a handwritten note accompanying the cuffs and cards.
[With:] A studio photo of May Lillie, in Western wear and holding a rifle, by Swords Bro's of York, PA, a studio photo of May Lillie and her husband Pawnee Bill (Major Gordon Lillie) also by Sword Bro's, and an autographed photo and autograph lettered signed by Major Lillie to "Friend Thorp." May, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia physician, met and fell in love with Pawnee Bill while he was performing in Philadelphia. The two married in 1886, and May threw herself into life with her husband, learning to ride sidesaddle and shoot. She was a major performer in his Wild West Show and was billed as "May Lillie, Princess of the Prairie." (4)
Framed pair of buckskin cuffs decorated with a painted floral pattern along with five tarock cards with bullet holes. May wore the cuffs while performing in Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show in 1912 and used the cards as targets to show her prowess as a sharp shooter. The cards and cuffs were given to a spectator identified as Grandfather Wills on a handwritten note accompanying the cuffs and cards.
[With:] A studio photo of May Lillie, in Western wear and holding a rifle, by Swords Bro's of York, PA, a studio photo of May Lillie and her husband Pawnee Bill (Major Gordon Lillie) also by Sword Bro's, and an autographed photo and autograph lettered signed by Major Lillie to "Friend Thorp." May, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia physician, met and fell in love with Pawnee Bill while he was performing in Philadelphia. The two married in 1886, and May threw herself into life with her husband, learning to ride sidesaddle and shoot. She was a major performer in his Wild West Show and was billed as "May Lillie, Princess of the Prairie." (4)