Buckskin, red stained center; heavily fringed along hem, arm-openings, etc.; beaded collar of blue-trimmed red triangles on white ground; one side of dress has buckskin overlay with 8 horizontal bands of elkteeth, 3 tassels of animal hair with multicolor beaded wrappers at top and 2 cloth-wrapped pouches; overlay panel has tin conical tinklers at base; 2 horizontal bands of tin tinklers encircle dress above hem; other side of dress has 3 horizontal bands of conical tin tinklers, lacks overlay with teeth.
Donor:
Phoebe Apperson Hearst
Collection place:
Great Plains, North America
Verbatim coll. place:
; Great Plains
Culture or time period:
Kiowa
Collector:
Hugh Lenox Scott and Tarbouc
Collection date:
1901
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Dresses (garments)
Context of use:
Each elk provided only 2 of these kind of teeth; dress thus served as testimony to the hunting skill of woman's husband or father.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
length 150 centimeters, length 117 centimeters, and width 74 centimeters
Comment:
Dress was vandalized (back cut out) during the move of the museum collections from S.F. to Berkeley....cf. "Museum History-Security: Elks Tooth Dress Robbery" in Museum vault." Photo: 15-708, 710, 711. Exhibited: Golden Gate International Exposition 1940 UCLMA Plains Indians, 1971.
Loans:
S1964-1965 #79: Science Center (Diablo Valley College) (March 18, 1965–August 6, 1965), S1967-1968 #100: Design Department (UC Berkeley)/Joanne Segal Brandford (February 20, 1968–March 4, 1968), S1968-1969 #44: Design Department (UC Berkeley)/Joanne Segal Brandford (November 14, 1968–November 14, 1968), S1973-1974 #65: Oakland Museum of California (March 8, 1974–April 24, 1974), and S1990-1991 #23: Blackhawk Museums (March 20, 1991–August 16, 1994)