[NATIVE AMERICAN] c. 1910 Plateau Wool Blanket with Beaded Strip and Bird Medallions

A Plateau Wool Blanket with Beaded Decoration. Circa 1910.

A green wool blanket ornamented with a broad, white-ground beaded strip and two circular bird medallions. Across the central band, blue and green five-pointed stars alternate with red floral devices, linked by slender curving lines. At the center, paired orange leaf-like forms outlined in black rise from a blue diamond beneath a three-lobed green motif edged in red.

The medallions at either end contain stylized birds with crested heads, angular wings, and bodies composed of contrasting red, blue, and turquoise elements. White circular fields surround the figures, enclosed by multicolored geometric borders. Two small beaded ornaments appear near the lower corners of the blanket. The extensive undecorated green field sets the individual motifs well apart and makes the white beadwork particularly conspicuous.

Blanket strips have an earlier history in the decoration of hide robes. Long ornamental bands could cover the seam joining sections of a bison hide; over time, they also appeared on robes without such seams and were transferred to wool trade blankets. The practice is documented among both Plains and Plateau communities.

The example offered here shows its continuation into the early twentieth century. Purchased wool provided the ground for a composition combining geometric figures, floral ornament, and birds, with the beadwork determining the blanket’s individual appearance. The careful correspondence between the two ends of the strip and the paired medallions gives the decoration a clear organization without crowding the cloth.