A GROS VENTRE/ASSINIBOINE MAN'S BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH SHIRT. c. 1890. ...

Description

A GROS VENTRE/ASSINIBOINE MAN'S BEADED HIDE AND CLOTH SHIRT

c. 1890
composed of navy blue wool trade cloth, overlaid over the shoulders and down the sleeves with hide strips, decorated with diamond elements and small squares, stitched in the overlay technique in various shades of glass seed beads, the triangular bibs, each with a four pointed star in similar bead colors, trimmed with hide fringe and silk ribbon
During the reservation era wool cloth occasionally served as a substitute for the traditional hide shirt body. Both navy blue and red wool cloth provided a dramatic background for the colorful beaded strips. These cloth shirts enjoyed some popularity on the Fort Belknap Reservation around the turn of the 20th century. They can be noted in a number of the photographs taken by Sumner Mattson at Fort Belknap in 1906, his negatives now at the Milwaukee Public Museum.
Length: 64 inches across the arms



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