Kiowa Beaded Hide Leggings, with Morning Star
ca 1875

thread and sinew-sewn softly tanned hide coated in green pigment; thin, twisted, yellow fringe and a lane of faceted brass, black, and red white-heart glass beads frame outer leg

length 33-3/4 inches

Some reports say that the green used by the Plains tribes was made from dried pond algae.  That may be true in some cases, but even before the Civil War traders stocked powered verdigris, a green pigment made by corroding copper with fermented grape pulp.  After the Civil War, traders stocked chrome green in at least three different shades.

Likewise, the yellow fringe on these leggings could be dyed with the natural mineral limonite, applied in powder form, or it could be chrome yellow, also available from traders in three shades.  On the reservations the ability of Indian artists to reach traditional pigment deposits was severely restricted (Hanson 1994: 54).  

Published:
Spirits in the Art (Hanson 1994: 58, plate 58)


Ex Henry Balink (1882-1963) Collection