Plateau Native American, possibly Nez Perce / Yakama region
c. 1850–1860
Native-tanned mountain sheep hide, pony beads, hemp sewn
Height 43 in (109.2 cm); width 54 in (137.2 cm), with custom wall mount
Provenance: Santa Fe trade; private collection, Santa Fe, NM; Michael Kokin, Spirit of America Volume 3:6; Dr. Robert Pamplin, Jr., Oregon
This Plateau dress, possibly from the Nez Perce / Yakama region, dates to the mid-19th century and is constructed in a two-piece form from native-tanned mountain sheep hide. The yoke is decorated with hemp-sewn pony beads arranged in wide contoured lanes, with red bands flanked by black lines set against a white ground. Below the yoke, suspended thongs accented with oval beads and the attached deer tail with clipped hair preserve features associated with early Plateau dress forms.
Garments of this type combined skilled hide tailoring with a strong visual language that carried social and cultural meaning. The use of mountain sheep hide, early pony beadwork, and the specific arrangement of ornament place the dress within an important period of Plateau material culture. Comparable examples have been discussed in the literature, including a related dress collected in 1846 and now in the Nez Perce National Monument Museum in Spalding, supporting the significance of this form and period.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Plateau Native American, possibly Nez Perce / Yakama region
c. 1850–1860
Native-tanned mountain sheep hide, pony beads, hemp sewn
Height 43 in (109.2 cm); width 54 in (137.2 cm), with custom wall mount
Provenance: Santa Fe trade; private collection, Santa Fe, NM; Michael Kokin, Spirit of America Volume 3:6; Dr. Robert Pamplin, Jr., Oregon
This Plateau dress, possibly from the Nez Perce / Yakama region, dates to the mid-19th century and is constructed in a two-piece form from native-tanned mountain sheep hide. The yoke is decorated with hemp-sewn pony beads arranged in wide contoured lanes, with red bands flanked by black lines set against a white ground. Below the yoke, suspended thongs accented with oval beads and the attached deer tail with clipped hair preserve features associated with early Plateau dress forms.
Garments of this type combined skilled hide tailoring with a strong visual language that carried social and cultural meaning. The use of mountain sheep hide, early pony beadwork, and the specific arrangement of ornament place the dress within an important period of Plateau material culture. Comparable examples have been discussed in the literature, including a related dress collected in 1846 and now in the Nez Perce National Monument Museum in Spalding, supporting the significance of this form and period.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
