Shirt
Date:
c. 1860
Medium:
Buckskin, buffalo hide, wool fabric, ermine skin, human hair, glass beads, pigment, porcupine quills
Dimensions:
62 x 46 inches (157.5 x 116.8 cm)
Credit Line:
Founders Society Purchase with funds from Flint Ink Corporation
Object number:
1988.27
Man's shirt constructed of two deerskins joined at the shoulders so that the hind legs form the sleeves and forelegs hand below as tassels. The arm and shoulder strips, fringed with pendants of hair and white ermine skin, are ornamented with razor straight bands of beadwork organized into a pattern of alternating panels of deep blue and mustard yellow separated by thin black stripes. Beaded decoration on the triangular neck flaps introduce accent colors of rose red, pink and powder blue. The upper portion of the shirt is stained with deep blue earth pigment with horizontal stripes of blue against a pale green background on the sleeves. Painted red "power circles" arranged in pendant chains descend from the shoulders. On the breast and back of the shirt are paintings of flying birds.
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