Cree, northern Plains
1890
Antelope skin, glass beads, buffalo sinew
Length 22 3/4" (57.8 cm)
Tobacco bags were personal objects connected to the carrying and protection of tobacco, an important material in Native ceremonial, social, and exchange contexts across the northern Plains and Subarctic. The Cree, whose traditional territory extended across a vast area of present-day Canada and the northern United States, produced a distinct beadwork tradition that combined geometric and floral elements with fine, densely worked bead surface. Tobacco bags of this elongated form with beaded panel and long hide fringe represent a category of Cree personal equipment in which functional purpose and decorative ambition were closely aligned.
This bag is constructed from antelope skin with a narrow elongated body, a beaded lower panel in purple, white, and dark blue geometric patterning sinew-sewn with minuscule beads, and a long hide fringe at the base. The beadwork is executed with a fineness of scale consistent with Cree beadwork conventions of the period, the small bead size allowing a level of geometric precision not achievable with the larger beads used in Plains production to the south. The antelope skin body has aged to a pale silver-gold tone through age and handling.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Cree, northern Plains
1890
Antelope skin, glass beads, buffalo sinew
Length 22 3/4" (57.8 cm)
Tobacco bags were personal objects connected to the carrying and protection of tobacco, an important material in Native ceremonial, social, and exchange contexts across the northern Plains and Subarctic. The Cree, whose traditional territory extended across a vast area of present-day Canada and the northern United States, produced a distinct beadwork tradition that combined geometric and floral elements with fine, densely worked bead surface. Tobacco bags of this elongated form with beaded panel and long hide fringe represent a category of Cree personal equipment in which functional purpose and decorative ambition were closely aligned.
This bag is constructed from antelope skin with a narrow elongated body, a beaded lower panel in purple, white, and dark blue geometric patterning sinew-sewn with minuscule beads, and a long hide fringe at the base. The beadwork is executed with a fineness of scale consistent with Cree beadwork conventions of the period, the small bead size allowing a level of geometric precision not achievable with the larger beads used in Plains production to the south. The antelope skin body has aged to a pale silver-gold tone through age and handling.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
