Shirt Item Number: E357532-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

FROM CARD: "THIS SHIRT IS OF DRESSED SKIN. THERE ARE PANELS OF RED MATERIAL OVER THE SHOULDER AND AROUND THE NECK. THESE ARE OUTLINED IN BLACK MATERIAL AND EDGED WITH WHITE BEADS. THERE ARE BEAD DESIGNS ON TOP OF THE RED CLOTH MATERIAL; THERE ARE OTHER PANELS OF THIS RED MATERIAL AT THE CHEST AND V SHAPED PANELS AT THE BOTTOM AND AT THE CENTER OF THE SHIRT, ALL OF WHICH ARE BEADED. THE BOTTOM OF THE LOWER TWO PANELS HAVE DANGLERS ATTACHED AT THE END OF STRINGS OF BEADS. SEE CAT. NO. 357591 FOR PANTS WHICH POSSIBLY BELONG WITH THIS SHIRT. LOANED TO THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART OCTOBER 20, 1972. RETURNED JUNE 12, 1974. REFER: HENRY COLLINS, ETC. 'THE FAR NORTH', (ILL. EXHIBITION CATALOG), NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, 1973, P. 161, NO. 205, ATTRIBUTED TO THE TLINGIT." MATERIALS IDENTIFIED IN THE FAR NORTH AS: BUCKSKIN, TRADE FELT, POLYCHROME BEADS, BIRD BEEKS AND OTHER HORN MATERIALS, SINEW AND THREAD. Note that the entry on this shirt or tunic in The Far North catalogue on p. 160 says: "This shirt exemplifies many qualities of Athabaskan Indian materials and workmanship, but was almost certainly made for Tlingit use. A similar shirt in the University Museum, Philadelphia (NA 10516), depicts in beadwork embroidery the specific eagle and killer whale emblems of this coastal clan, emphasizing the Tlingit patronage of this essentially Indian style."