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Northern Plains Beaded Buffalo Hide Saddle Blanket
Northern Plains
1880s
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 70 1/2" (179.1 cm); width 19 3/8" (49.2 cm)
Provenance: Carolyn and Peter Lynch
Beaded saddle blankets were among the most prestigious objects produced by northern Plains women, displayed on horseback during ceremonies, parades, and important social occasions as visible expressions of the maker's skill and the family's standing within the community. The large format required to cover a horse's back demanded sustained technical control across an extended beaded surface, making fully beaded examples of this scale among the most ambitious undertakings in Plains beadwork. Objects of this type from the 1880s represent the final flourishing of the tradition before reservation-era disruptions curtailed large-scale beadwork production.
This saddle blanket is beaded on buffalo hide with geometric patterning in a white ground with polychrome cross, triangle, and bar motifs in red, blue, green, and yellow, sinew-sewn throughout across the full length of the piece. The scale and technical consistency of the beadwork across 70 inches reflects a high level of sustained accomplishment within the northern Plains beadwork tradition. Provenance traces to the collection of Carolyn and Peter Lynch, a collection of recognized quality in the field of Plains Indian material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Northern Plains
1880s
Buffalo hide, glass beads, sinew
Length 70 1/2" (179.1 cm); width 19 3/8" (49.2 cm)
Provenance: Carolyn and Peter Lynch
Beaded saddle blankets were among the most prestigious objects produced by northern Plains women, displayed on horseback during ceremonies, parades, and important social occasions as visible expressions of the maker's skill and the family's standing within the community. The large format required to cover a horse's back demanded sustained technical control across an extended beaded surface, making fully beaded examples of this scale among the most ambitious undertakings in Plains beadwork. Objects of this type from the 1880s represent the final flourishing of the tradition before reservation-era disruptions curtailed large-scale beadwork production.
This saddle blanket is beaded on buffalo hide with geometric patterning in a white ground with polychrome cross, triangle, and bar motifs in red, blue, green, and yellow, sinew-sewn throughout across the full length of the piece. The scale and technical consistency of the beadwork across 70 inches reflects a high level of sustained accomplishment within the northern Plains beadwork tradition. Provenance traces to the collection of Carolyn and Peter Lynch, a collection of recognized quality in the field of Plains Indian material.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.