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I'm trying one more time to list this great Native American beaded and quilled bag; it has had bids in the past that I would now accept as the holidays are coming and I need some gift buying money! If it doesn't sell this time, I'll tuck it away for a few years.

This wonderful bag was part of the Indian and Western antique weapons, and bead work collection of a friend and local artist of some note. I am fairly certain that the bag is Cheyenne as indicated by the style of beadwork.

My friend got this possibles bag along with a pair of Crow blanket leggings that I recently sold, from an estate sale in the 1960s. This bag, among several other things was contained in a very large trunk of Western collectibles that had been collected before 1915 by a Bridgeport CT family.

This bag is wonderful in it's Southern Plains style beadwork and quill work on what appears to be brain tanned elk or deer skin. Pretty thick, though not dry or fragile - could even be buffalo.

The red dyed quill work covers the whole front face of the bag and is artfully augmented with rows of red wool trade cloth 'tufts' held on with vertical rows of heavy sinew stitching. The bag itself is sewn together with heavy sinew, the beadwork is also sinew sewn - hard to see because t's no apparent bead loss but the sinew can be seen on the inside of the hide. The red dyed quill work is done in typical Southern Plains style by wrapping quills (done wet) around a horizontal line of what looks like black thread in places. The trade cloth tufts are, as previously mentioned, held on by vertical rows of heavy sinew.

The quill work is worn in spots and the bag leather is soiled with some old wear holes, the right side of the flap has a tear (shown in pictures) and t's one period repair with a sinew sewn hide patch; all attesting to age and utility during it's time of use. I really can't find any bead loss. It measures about 19" at it's widest near the top and about 12" high.

This bag would have been part of a Native american 'household' and because of careful and creative decoration, would probably have been used to contain items of honor or ceremony as opposed to the more mundane parfleche containers used for food and articles of clothing.

Just a great item of a society of people who saw beauty and gracefullness in daily life and expressed it eloquently.

Why one would pay my modest starting bid and more for a lithographed Western print with (in my opinion) no real intrinsic value, rather than buying a real, tangible work of art from the people and the times of settling of the West - I'll never understand.

Wouldn't you rather have this bag on your mantle than an overpriced framed piece of paper? You can, for a very low 'Buy It Now' of a fraction of what I paid. I have seen lesser bags selling in the range of 3 to 4 thousand at recent high end auctions.

I absolutely guarantee this to be a period Southern Plains, beaded and quilled tepee bag - unfooled with in any way. Just a real honest, period bag of great artistry and historic significance.

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