Cheyenne Saddle Bags, ca. 1870
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GUEST:
I bought it from a friend of mine in 1974. He had bought it in 1957 at a storage outfit auction, and it was placed in storage in 1930. When he told me about what he had, I went and took a look at it and there were nine pieces in all, and I bought the whole group.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for them?
GUEST:
I paid $1,000 for the entire group.
APPRAISER:
Okay, that's good. Now, I understand you... I think you figured out these are Plains Indian, this particular piece.
GUEST:
Right, Plains Indian, but I don't know what tribe or group they came from, nor do I know the age.
APPRAISER:
They're called saddle throws or saddlebags, and it's a really classic type of object for the Plains Indians-- a panel of bold beadwork, which several of the groups did. The Cheyenne did it, the Arapaho did it, and the Lakota. You can tell these are Cheyenne by the way they built up the steps on the little pyramids.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
The Lakota would have used half of that space for their checks, as would the Arapaho, but the Cheyenne used the whole row of beads to build these steps up.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The white background is very typical of Cheyenne and Lakota; the long fringe, very typical for the period. These are from about the 1870s. This was a period when they had their last freedom, really. In another five years after these were made, they were all put on the reservations, so from that perspective, too, it's a great example. This triangle is also a very typical Cheyenne characteristic, as is the yellow ocher rubbed in. So you've got a classic pair of Cheyenne saddlebags, very desirable on today's market. They're very sought after. I would conservatively estimate them at $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my.
APPRAISER:
So that's a beautiful pair, and Cheyenne's very sought after.
GUEST:
Great.
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