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Cheyenne Beaded Cradle

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Western Americana Start Price:12,500.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 50,000.00 USD
Cheyenne Beaded Cradle
Preview: Phoenix Marriott Mesa - 200 N Centennial Way, Mesa, AZ 85201
Preview Period:
Thursday January 27 -- 3:00 pm-7:00 pm
Friday January 28 -- 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday January 29 – 9:00 am -4:30 pm
39” total length, beaded carrier is 25” x 9”. Geometric designs in green, light blue, dark blue and yellow on white field. 18 dentalia shell suspensions with attached hawk bells. Boards are stained and tacked. Fine condition, c 1880 CHEYENNE CRADLEBOARD By Benson L Lanford Like all people, American Indians deeply love, nurture, and lavish attention on their offspring. Children are viewed as being wonderful gifts from The Creator. Among numbers of various tribes it is a custom shortly after its birth to take a child into the open to offer it to the Supreme Being so that it be blessed with a long, healthy life, and that it follow a spiritual path while on this earth. The child likely receives an initial name right away— its first endo----wment to honor and bless it from the very beginning of its life. No lack of attention is spared the child, nor in preparing for the time of its birth. For months ahead, friends, relatives and close family members make things for the newborn. They craft toys, utensils, weapons, clothes, miniature of adults’, and adornments-- even earrings for the babe to don soon, for with its ears pierced in the earliest days of its life the child can be dressed fully in the manner of its people. In turning to the practical, and in anticipation of caring for the baby, carriers of sorts are prepared—“cradleboards” for some tribes, such as this beautiful, fully-beaded example. (READ MORE p 130)