PAINTED HIDE SHIRT, GREAT LAKES REGION

FIRST HALF 18TH CENTURY

Details

PAINTED HIDE SHIRT, GREAT LAKES REGION
First half 18th Century
Soft tanned hide of extreme thinness with finely cut fringe along arms, wrists, sides, bottom, and V neck. Back, front, and arms are painted with red linear elements outlined in black. The V neck is accentuated with red lines coming down from the shoulders to the point of the V. At the shoulder, on either side of the neck and on the bottom of the sides are triangular tab appendages with stepped edges and diamond shaped perforations. A larger tab is found at the back of the neck.

Provenance

Hotel Drouot, Paris, France
Robert DuPerrier, ethnographic art dealer, Paris
Herman Von Bonk, Munich, Germany
Donald Ellis, Dundas, Ontario
Current Owner

Post Lot Text

Please note that this piece, subject to the approval of the new owner, is scheduled to be exhibited at the Denver Art Museum in an exhibition titled: 300 Years of Native American Garments as a lead exhibit opening January 21, 2011.

Sale Room Notice

Please note the provenance in the printed catalog should read Hotel Drouot, not Hotel Druout. This is correct on Lot Finder.

Condition Report

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Lot Essay

A small group of early historic artifacts with abstract paintings have survived. In addition to this painted skin shirt, the early abstract painting style is represented by painted skins or robes in the Musee de l'Homme, (16) Paris, France; The Musee des Beaux Artes, Bessancon, France (2); the Museo de America, (3) Madrid, Spain; and the Museum of Mankind, (1) London, England.
Highly elongated triangles are characteristic elements in early paintings from the Great Lakes region. These long and narrow triangles are often combined in shapes reminiscent of feathers, forked bird tails and arrows...The painting style is unique but resembles the intermediate style found in the 1720's in the region south and west of Lake Michigan. This resemblance is most obvious in comparing the shirt to the four illinois-attributed skins in the Musee de l'Homme.
Brasser, Ted J. Notes on a recently discovered Indian Shirt from New France by Ted J. Brasser in American Indian Art Magazine, vol. 24, no. 2, Spring, 1999.

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