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Arapaho Fully Beaded Buffalo Hide Moccasins, Plains
Arapaho, southern Plains
1870s
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 10 1/4" (26 cm)
Provenance: Private Montana collection
Arapaho beaded moccasins of the 1870s represent the height of the tradition, the fully beaded vamp and sole requiring sustained technical control and design planning across the full surface of the footwear. The bold geometric compositions in strongly contrasting colors are characteristic of Arapaho beadwork of this period, the designs covering the vamp in a composition that reads as a complete pictorial field when the moccasin is laid flat. Fully beaded examples of this quality from the 1870s are increasingly uncommon in the market, most having passed into institutional collections during the early 20th century period of systematic Plains collecting.
This pair is fully beaded across the vamp in polychrome geometric patterning in green, blue, red, white, and dark tones, sinew-sewn on buffalo hide with the construction consistent throughout. The beadwork is dense and even, the color palette well preserved, and the pair retains its overall form and structural integrity. Provenance traces to a private Montana collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Arapaho, southern Plains
1870s
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 10 1/4" (26 cm)
Provenance: Private Montana collection
Arapaho beaded moccasins of the 1870s represent the height of the tradition, the fully beaded vamp and sole requiring sustained technical control and design planning across the full surface of the footwear. The bold geometric compositions in strongly contrasting colors are characteristic of Arapaho beadwork of this period, the designs covering the vamp in a composition that reads as a complete pictorial field when the moccasin is laid flat. Fully beaded examples of this quality from the 1870s are increasingly uncommon in the market, most having passed into institutional collections during the early 20th century period of systematic Plains collecting.
This pair is fully beaded across the vamp in polychrome geometric patterning in green, blue, red, white, and dark tones, sinew-sewn on buffalo hide with the construction consistent throughout. The beadwork is dense and even, the color palette well preserved, and the pair retains its overall form and structural integrity. Provenance traces to a private Montana collection.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.