Lot 47
Native American, Pacific Northwest, southeastern Alaska, Chilkat tribe (part of the Tlingit people), ca. 1950s CE. A gorgeous apron, made from painted hide, with long, hanging strips of leather tied to approximately fifty added conical embellishments made from the walls of horses' hooves, creating a pretty tinkling noise as the fringe moves. The creamy beige surface of the hide is painted with crimson and black stylized motifs organized into four horizontal registers; the top shows a huge face at the center with slender eyes, annular nostrils, and a large open mouth of gritting teeth flanked by hands on either side; the second displays a smaller zoomorphic visage surrounded by two wing-like designs; the third is a pattern of four ovoid shapes, and the last exhibits two squares eyes amongst a geometric design. These lovely decorations are likely representations of mythological beings and animals native to the Pacific Northwest. Size without ties: 38" L x 32" H (96.5 cm x 81.3 cm) Size with ties: 83" L (210.8 cm)
From a description of a similar object at the Smithsonian, a Tlingit adviser says, "People usually first look at that face [in the middle] and say 'oh its a human' well, most of the form line of the Chilkat pieces have this human looking face in it and it is representational of the spirit of whatever the creature is. So, in a lot of the Native stories, like the story about the bear or something, where the bear takes their skin off and theres a person inside the spirit person inside. This [face] represents that spirit, where they take their skin off and it's the person inside." This form of painting is seen by the modern Tlingit as a kind of written language, telling a visual story about their beliefs.
Provenance: private Newport Beach, California, USA collection
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#141331
- Condition: Collection label on verso. Some barely noticeable losses to edges of hoof embellishments. Light staining of fabric. Otherwise, excellent and intact with impressive remaining pigments.
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