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Hupa Otter Fur Quiver with Arrows

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Hupa Otter Fur Quiver with Arrows
<B>Hupa Otter Fur Quiver with Arrows</B></I><BR>Circa 1880<BR>Length 27 in. quiver; Length 31 1/4 in. the longest arrow<BR><BR>This rare quiver is made from a whole tanned otter skin. The lower body and tail have been folded over and back to create a decorative pendant. This area is decorated with abalone shell along its border and down the center. A tab of loom woven beadwork with bead fringe and shell pendants finishes the tail decoration. In addition, diamond and star motifs are painted on the inner surface of the hide. The quiver comes with four equally rare Hupa arrows, three with finely crafted iron points, and one with a chipped flint point.<BR>Two northern California quivers are noted in Mason's landmark study and should be reviewed and compared. One is a quiver made of deerskin from the McCloud River area and the second is made of coyote fur and attributed to the Hupa. (See: Mason, Otis Tufton, <I>North American Bows, Arrows, and Quivers,</B></I> Smithsonian Report for 1893, Washington, D.C., 1894, Plates 91 and 92.) An albumen print in the collections of The Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University depicts a Hupa couple in a studio setting. The man is holding an otter fur quiver very similar to this example. (See: Bush, Alfred L. and Mitchell, Lee Clark, <I>The Photograph and the American Indian,</B></I> Princeton, New Jersey, 1994, p. 168.) Another quiver, also made of otter fur, is attributed to the Karuk. (See: Baldwin, John, <I>Bows, Arrows, and Quivers of the American Frontier,</B></I> Early American Artistry Trading Company, West Olive, Michigan, 1999, p. 92, figure 132.)<BR><BR>Provenance<BR>Richard Corrow Collection, Santa Fe, New Mexico.<BR><BR>