Lot 97 — [NATIVE AMERICAN] c. 1890 Sioux Knife Sheath with Contrasting Beadwork and Knife

A Sioux Beaded Hide Knife Sheath. Northern Plains, circa 1890. Accompanied by a knife marked “A. W. Bradshaw & Son / New York.”

A beautiful Sioux knife sheath, ornamented on both faces with markedly different arrangements of glass beadwork. On one side, the rectangular upper panel combines opposed yellow triangles with green and white angular fields, their contours sharpened by dark blue outlines and small red accents. Below, closely spaced rows of multicolored beads form a densely variegated field extending toward the curved tip. Broad yellow and dark brown borders follow the lower edge, giving this lively surface a clear, continuous frame.

The opposite face presents a more open composition. A dark brown beaded panel at the mouth encloses a green rectangle with a blue center, surrounded by white linear devices. Across the exposed golden hide below, transverse bands alternate with small triangular pendants of color and gently looping bead strands. The contrast between the two faces is particularly appealing: one emphasizes the cumulative effect of densely packed color, while the other allows the hide itself to remain an active part of the design.

Knife sheaths occupied a place within the personal and domestic equipment of Plains communities. Such objects united practical utility with the skills of hide preparation, sewing, and beadworking.

The sheath offered here belongs to a period when glass beads were firmly established within Sioux decorative traditions. Its contrasting surfaces demonstrate the scope for individual invention within that practice, juxtaposing bold geometric panels, closely worked color fields, and more delicate ornament against exposed hide.

The accompanying knife has an elongated blade with a rounded, rising tip, a plain wooden handle, and a brass-colored ferrule. The blade is stamped “A. W. BRADSHAW & SON / NEW YORK.” 

A distinctive, fine example.