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Plateau Polychrome Painted Riding Quirt 19th C.

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:500.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Plateau Polychrome Painted Riding Quirt 19th C.
The lot features a unique horse-riding quirt from the Plateau Region Native American Indians of the 19th Century. The piece is likely from the Nez Perce Indians dating to circa 1880-1890’s and is crafted with a notch-cut wooden haft handle with old green and red pigment mineral paint and brass tack decoration being finished with a beaded Buffalo hide wrist throng drop. This styling of quirt is typical of the Upper Plains with long braided hide straps and serrated or “staircase-notch cut” haft. The wrist throng drop shows a trade canvas which is further accented by glass trade seed beadwork in a geometric pattern. The beads include greasy yellow, sky padre blue, chalk white, greasy green and red white hearts. The wood shows typical wear from age and use with some loss to the paint. Similar examples in the Nebraska State Historical Society Museum and the Museum of the American Indian in New York are included in the lot info for comparison. Provenance: From the ex-collection of Cyrus Eaton out of London, England. The quirt measures 15 ½ inches long and the straps hang down 22 inches.