The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The backs of these mittens and the thumbs are quilled with red, light blue, white, and purple porcupine quills in a floral design. The main composition is symmetrically arranged around an equal-armed, eight pointed element on a quadrate layout. The effect is of a flowering plant bursting into blossoms toward the fingertips so that the design is oriented towards the wearer. Design elements consist of the double curve cross, the trefoil, tear drop shaped and heart shaped motifs. A smaller curvilinear floral and leaf is embroidered on the thumb. Clustered on a single stem, similar design elements appear in blue, red, white, and purple. The cuffs are made of dark blue Stroud cloth decorated at the border with beads and ribbon. From the upper third of the cuff, proceeding toward the fingers, the ornaments are arranged: a scalloped design of white beads, each point terminating in a trilobal design; then a field of red ribbon; followed by a simple line of single white beads; a narrow band of gold or dark yellow ribbon; and finally a border of two lines of white beads. Blue and white bird quills decorate the seams. See supplementary file in Arts of Americas office.

Henry L. Batterman Fund

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Brooklyn Museum Collection

Northern Plains area. The drum has a red painted patch glued onto drumhead. The design is a buffalo with a zigzag line around it but no power lines emanating directly from the buffalo. There are red areas of pigment on drumhead. Wool and hide fringe dangles from drum. Remnants of silk ribbons are attached with nails along the edge. It has a knot in the hide ties in the middle back. This was possibly made as a showpiece as would have been very awkward to hold and play. This is a drum that would have ceremonial significance These are specialized.

This headdress is constructed on a base of red Stroud cloth, formed into a band and decorated with beadwork in a series of "filled triangles." Blue triangular outlines filled with white beads alternate with white outlines filled with blue. A line of white beads is also attached at the lower edge of the red band. Horsehair that has been dyed red is inserted on the top of the band and a ribbon, once green, is tied on at both ends for fastening. An ear lock of horse hair is tied with sinew onto hide thong and a fine crewel yarn cord is hand plaited at the edge where the horsehair is attached.

The object is a bow, a bow case, arrows and a quiver. Bow is inlaid with elk antler and decorated with bands of mallard duck neck skin. There is red dyed horsehair tufts at each end. Duck skin is used because for the Sioux the duck appears in all three levels of the world - sky, water and earth. The buffalo hide bow and quiver case has red and black pigment mixed with glue. Even lines of glue are used to create lines around the black triangles. The bow has an elaborate design on the surface created by inlaid sections of elk horn. On either side of the inlaid area is a red painted band, at the ends of which are mallard scalp feathers that have almost disappeared. The bow is backed with white-painted thread. Attached to each end of the bow are red horsehair ornaments. Also attached is a strip of red stroud cloth fastened around the handgrip. The bow case and quiver are made of buffalo hide and have sparsely painted designs. There are five configured designs: two on each side of the bow case and one on the quiver. The designs are made up of elongated diamond shapes divided in half with a small linking section between each repeated triangular part. All parts of the design are delineated with thin impressed lines. The triangles are filled in alternately with dark brown and red color. The small linking section is brown. The intensity of the colors is pale, perhaps from an application of sizing. From the bottom of the bow case hang hide tabs, with pierced decorations.