Cheyenne Elk Ivory Tooth Beaded Dress

Cheyenne beaded hide elk tooth dress. Native tanned deer or elk hide, elk ivory teeth, Venetian beads, tin cones, trade beads, red and yellow ochre. Hide dress of four hide construction sewn with sinew and cotton thread. Fringes cut at sleeve, yolk bottom, and bottom of dress. Other fringes thonged around the midriff. Long fringes cut and sewn at the tops of the sleeves. Yolk is painted with yellow ochre. Red ochre paint at the neck and above the fringe at the bottom. Seam folded and hemmed at the neck. Banded and geometric designs in Venetian beads along the top of both sleeves, along the body, and at the bottom of the dress. Long thonged fringe decorations terminating in tin cones along the body of the dress. The yolk of the dress is decorated with 192 elk ivory teeth, each suspended by a hide thong. (Note: Each elk produces only two "ivories" as their canine teeth in the upper jaw). Machine and hand sewn with sinew and cotton thread.

Condition: Excellent condition with only some light staining from wear.

Circa: 1900