Native American, Pacific Northwest Coast, United States, Tlingit, ca. early to mid-20th century CE. A remarkable example of traditional clothing known as a button blanket; a crest-style robe created for ceremonial use made from red wool stroud cloth and white button accents. A formline raven with a fish and lower face, is painted onto the surface. The blanket is mounted in a modern display case. In the 19th century the Hudson Bay Company traded many wool blankets with the coastal tribes and these plain blankets were transformed into garments and ceremonial regalia with the addition of buttons, appliques, and beads; the central crest figure or symbol that denotes clan or family affiliation. The size suggests a child may have worn this example. Size of blanket: 27" L x 24" W (68.6 cm x 61 cm); case: 31.5" L x 3.5" W x 41.5" H (80 cm x 8.9 cm x 105.4 cm)

According to Polly Sargent and Doreen Jensen, co-authors of "Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth" (1995) - the first oral history about these traditional works of fabric art and ritual, "The button blanket is eye-catching, prestigious and treasured - one of the most spectacular embellishments to the Indian culture of the Northwest Coast and a unique form of graphic and narrative art. The traditional crest-style robe is the sister of the totem pole and, like the pole, proclaims hereditary rights, obligations and powers. Unlike the pole, about which countless books and papers have been written, the button blanket has no chroniclers."

Please note this item falls under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and is not eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, & Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States.

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Provenance: ex-private West Jordon, Utah, USA collection

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#178555

Some fading to painted formline motifs. Age and use commensurate wear to wool, otherwise intact. Mounted in a modern display case.