Two Metal Roach Spreaders by Julius Caesar, Pawnee (1910–1982). One bearing a maker’s mark; both reportedly acquired directly from the artist.

Two individually designed roach spreaders, their elongated plates pierced and engraved with geometric and feather ornament. The larger terminates in seven feather-shaped projections, each worked with a central shaft and fine diagonal barbs. A five-pointed star is cut through the upper field, above a descending sequence of diamond-shaped openings. Engraved triangular accents follow the sides, and a single tubular feather holder is mounted toward the opposite end.

The smaller spreader has three pointed terminal projections above elongated openings, with a central row of pierced diamonds flanked by circular perforations. Scalloped side contours and delicate engraved passages soften its outline. Two tubular feather holders are mounted along the plate. The different arrangements demonstrate Caesar’s ability to vary a practical form through changes in silhouette, proportion, and ornament.

Roach spreaders are fitted within hair roach headdresses to maintain their spread and support upright feathers. The pierced holes provide points of attachment, while the cylindrical fittings accommodate the feathers. A German silver spreader made by Caesar in the early 1960s and collected for the Smithsonian in 1966 documents this construction and its use in men’s powwow regalia.

The National Museum of the American Indian also holds a Caesar spreader dated circa 1961, acquired the following year from the Mohonk Lodge Indian Store in Clinton, Oklahoma. Such records establish these objects as a recurring part of his output. 

Julius Caesar was a significant figure in twentieth-century Southern Plains metalwork. He learned from the Pawnee jeweler Hiram Jake and subsequently from the Meskwaki metalsmith Bill Leaf, bringing these related artistic traditions into his practice. His instruction of his son Bruce helped carry the family’s metalworking knowledge into another generation.