Materials

Deer hide, or antelope, very fine porcupine quills, size 13 greasy medium blue and brown beads. Quills of red, blue, natural and brown.

Techniques or Format

Self lapel, with no center back seam with quill wrapped edges. Beads threaded with sinew. Pockets are pass through. Back has inverted box pleat with spilt all the way in back of coat. Large triangle gusset suggests that coat was made for someone who spent a lot of time riding. No side seam. Front piece wraps to the back , fiddle back. Evidence of underdrawing for quillwork in black ink. Beads used as spacers on shoulder fringe, which is a separate piece that has been sewn in as a welt. Sewn with sinew; some linen thread is present. Quillwork and body construction is linen thread with only the beads threaded with sinew.

Motifs and Patterns

Curvilinear floral motifs of very fine quillwork. Upper collar has a pinwheel of white and red. Fringe on shoulders and hem are quill wrapped with alternating blue/white repeating patterns of nested squares with blue fields interspaced. Edging of coat is quill wrapped with alternating blue/white sections interspaced with red blocks on center front edge. Waist has double zigzag with red and white quills. Floral is zigzag with saw tooth seam.

Other Notes

Very fine coat hat belonged and was worn by Honore Picotte, a Metis. This coat was mostly likely made for him. This coat shows very fine tailoring and quillwork. Please see uploaded sketches for measurements. CW and CH.

Condition: Very good condition. Some damage to quills, fading noted. Some beads missing. Fringe has been cut shorter.

Current Location: Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, MO, USA

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1914.047.0001

GKS Reference Number: 24938

Record Creation Context

On site research by Sherry Farrell Racette, Cory Willmott and Carolyn Gilman (then Research Associate at MHM), with Ceara Horsley, research assistant and pattern drafter.