Beaded bag

Any thoughts on age and origin? Broad guess is plains tribe 1930–1980 somewhere? Would like to hear from more knowledgeable eyes.

Approx 4”x8”

 

these r hard to date as older , when the work isn't put in....
no grace in the bead work
sloppy stitching ..
I'd venture it's also non native ...as there's no tribal affiliation recognizable ..


deer hide.... could be 1980's...

 

Sweet but unskilled. (Girl) scouting project, perhaps?

Debora

 

I agree with the others. Looks like a craft project using chemically tanned leather (although hard to tell for sure from distant photos).

 

Called a "possibles" bag. Members of our local Mountain man group <1849, make all their own clothes and sheaths and possibles bags so could be from something like that. Just a less skilled maker.

 

As others have said, not real skilled work. It is more difficult to do fine beadwork on commercially tanned skins because the surface is much more stretchy that on traditional brain tanned leather. The design looks vaguely Plateau - Northern Athabascan.

 

Thanks y’all. I wasn’t confident about it in any way, shape, or form but in a split second decision decided it was worth a small gamble. I was instantly slightly regretful but it has some charm and hopefully won’t end up being a loss.

One of those items that you put on your “no list” during preview and then you see it’s available cheaply when it crosses the block and you talk yourself into bidding on it in that second. I’m getting slightly more disciplined when it comes to this but not fully.

Edit: for spelling

 

Deerskin that has been brain tanned at top quality is more stretchy, soft and pliant than commercial/chemical tanned leather. It's also airy rather than dense. Brain tan leather typically has the grain removed. So beading with a hidden stitch that only goes part way into the leather (not through) is easily doable. Commercial leather is more dense, and often has the tough grain still on, which can be harder with a fine beading needle.