A sheath constructed from commercial leather, wrapped on the top with a piece of native tanned hide, which is in turn beaded with sinew-sewn seed beads. The beaded panel consists of two horizontally bisected stepped hour-glasses on a white field. An accompanying antique knife comes from a Wyoming forger.

Beaded commercial hide sheaths from the Cheyenne are exceedingly rare. From a design perspective, the motifs are reminiscent of an earlier generation of beadwork. This is perhaps why the sheath found its way into the Boyd collection - a collection known for its superior Cheyenne and Arapaho sheaths.

Ex Morning Star Gallery, NM; ex Bill Boyd, OR.

Published: H. Malcolm Grimmer and Jordan Davis, Volume III exh. cat. (Morning Star Gallery, 1993), p. 46.

9” long

#51123