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Crow Pony Beaded Horse Crupper

Currency:USD Category:American Indian Art / Art - Bead Work Start Price:1,200.00 USD Estimated At:12,000.00 - 16,000.00 USD
Crow Pony Beaded Horse Crupper
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Striking early Crow horse crupper. Constructed on buffalo hide and leather, with red trade cloth, pony and seed beads, tin cones on rawhide drops, and long fringe. Morning stars on both sides. On a custom stand with natural horsehair tail. The crupper itself is 26" long, the fringe measures 18" in length and the drops are 8" to the bottom of the cones, Circa 1850s.

Pictured, page 83, “Native American Horse Gear: A Golden Age of Equine-Inspired Art of the Nineteenth Century” by E. Helene Sage:

“The commercial leather panels are beaded with pony beads, but the leather itself is not tooled (unless covered by the beadwork). Its likely source was harness breeching, for the fenders or skirts of an early trail saddle. The rest of the crupper is buffalo hide (note the side rawhide pendants with tin cones) with a thick, long fringe. The stroud cloth covering the rear portion of the crupper is decorated with sinew-sewn seed beads, with two morning star symbols on each side.”