Gros Ventre, northern Plains
1880
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 9 1/2" (24.1 cm); drop 17 1/2" (44.5 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Bozeman, Montana
Beaded knife sheaths were worn at the belt and carried both practical utility and social prestige among the Gros Ventre and neighboring peoples of the Montana plains. The lane stitch beading technique, in which parallel rows of beads are sewn flat against the hide surface, was the predominant Plains beadwork method of the late 19th century, producing a dense and durable surface well suited to objects subject to daily handling. The light blue ground with stepped geometric figures in red, dark green, and yellow is consistent with northern Plains beadwork conventions of the 1880s.
This sheath is fully beaded in the lane stitch on buffalo hide with tin cone danglers hanging from a hide fringe at the throat, and retains its original trade knife with worn steel blade and wood handle. The inclusion of the original knife makes this a particularly complete and coherent example, the sheath and blade together presenting the object as it would have been used. Provenance traces to a private collection in Bozeman, Montana.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Gros Ventre, northern Plains
1880
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 9 1/2" (24.1 cm); drop 17 1/2" (44.5 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Bozeman, Montana
Beaded knife sheaths were worn at the belt and carried both practical utility and social prestige among the Gros Ventre and neighboring peoples of the Montana plains. The lane stitch beading technique, in which parallel rows of beads are sewn flat against the hide surface, was the predominant Plains beadwork method of the late 19th century, producing a dense and durable surface well suited to objects subject to daily handling. The light blue ground with stepped geometric figures in red, dark green, and yellow is consistent with northern Plains beadwork conventions of the 1880s.
This sheath is fully beaded in the lane stitch on buffalo hide with tin cone danglers hanging from a hide fringe at the throat, and retains its original trade knife with worn steel blade and wood handle. The inclusion of the original knife makes this a particularly complete and coherent example, the sheath and blade together presenting the object as it would have been used. Provenance traces to a private collection in Bozeman, Montana.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
