Pueblo Quilled Anklets

Item: 1528

Origin: Pueblo
Date: Last quarter 19th Century
Media: Quills, horse hair, hide, sinew, cloth
Dimensions: 8.25″ long, 2.5″ wide

Description:  This is a rare pair of quilled moccasin anklets.  Quills (bird or porcupine) and dark horse hair wrap the hide strips to create a 5 square pattern repeated 3 times.  The quills and horse hair are held down with a fine stitching of sinew visible on the front. These strips are then trimmed with synthetic dyed red yarn.  The backing is a black cloth in a twill pattern.  Small, metal clips are used at each end to tie the anklets to the moccasins.

Condition: One of the two anklets has more loss of quill than the other.  There is no loss of the horse hair so the pattern remains strong.

Provenance: From an Estate in Sinking Springs, Ohio; Collected by “Chief” R. Deerfoot (1871-1959)

Price: 1200