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Sioux Man's Wearing Courting Blanket

Currency:USD Category:Art Start Price:1,000.00 USD Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
Sioux Man's Wearing Courting Blanket
<B>Sioux Man's Wearing Blanket</B></I><BR>Circa 1890<BR>Length 68 1/2 in. Width 99 in.<BR><BR>This "skunk" blanket is fashioned from two pieces of navy blue wool cloth with white selvage. The term is an obvious reference to the wide, central stripe created by the bands of white selvage. These blankets are also referred to as "courting" blankets. Courtship scenes are commonly depicted in ledger art with a man and a woman enveloped in a similar blanket. The center of the blanket is decorated with a beaded strip, sinew sewn on hide, then stitched to the blanket. The blanket strip is composed of five panels and four rosettes. The panels are decorated with an <I>u-ma-ne</B></I> symbol in red, yellow, navy blue, amber, and metallic beads against a blue bead background. The <I>u-ma-ne</B></I> symbol, frequently seen in Sioux beadwork and quillwork, represents the unappropriated life or power of the earth (which man may obtain). The square or oblong with four radiating lines is interpreted to represent the earth and the four directions. The rosettes are divided into quadrants, alternating in red and blue, outlined in navy blue.<BR><BR>Provenance<BR>Bonhams and Butterfields, Sale 7477E, Lot 3275, December 8, 2003.<BR><BR>Reference<BR>Dorsey, James O., "A Study of Siouan Cults" <I>Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology 1889-1890,</B></I> Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., p. 451.<BR><BR>