This is a beautiful, beaded and polychrome painted Indian hide men’s war shirt from the Sioux Native American Indian with an ownership history that includes the Yankton Indian College Museum collection. The piece was likely made at the Pine Ridge Indian Sioux Reservation, collected by Reverend Joseph Ward (at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation) and put into the Yankton Indian College Museum display. The collection was sold when the museum was closed in 1987 and this shirt, amongst other pieces were purchased by Jim Aplan of Piedmont, South Dakota, a noted Native American collector. The shirt is comprised of Indian brain-tanned buckskin hide with sinew sewing, having traces of old yellow ocher mineral pigment coloring alogn the top area and at the bottom a more brown mineral coloring with spots of red ocher. There are expertly beaded panels sewn on, running down the arms and across the chest over the shoulders to the back. The beadwork is all old glass trade seed beads in a typical Sioux geometric pattern which is also sinew sewn. The beads show colors of chalk white, greasy yellow, cobalt, medium green and red. There are strips of hair with red stroud wrappings and sinew sewing are tied on with buckskin hide, possibly a later addition and said to be human hair. There are several later repairs, worn through spots on the back with hide glued patches of later buckskin and leather hide. The shirt has some stiff spots but is mostly soft and supple. The shirt is impressive in design and displays very well. There is a hide tied on red stroud old trade clothe neck trim and below a beaded hour glass section with five metal trade hawk bells tied on with hide. The polychrome painted design extends on both sides. There is integral hand cut fringes at the bottom of the arms and bottom of the war shirt end. Provenance: From the ex-collections of Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Reverend Jospeh Ward, Yankton Indian College Museum, Jim Aplan Piedmont, South Dakota, Terry Haas and Ted Levy. The shirt was said by the collector as being an early, rare example. Please review the pictures and shirt during the preview period for your own representation of age. Measures overall 65.5”W from cuff end to cuff end across the arms, 17”W from should to arm sewn edge to the other shoulder to arm sewn edge and 42”H from the collar to the bottom of the fringes.

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