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Kwakwaka'Wakw Child's Button Blanket
Northwest Coast child's button blanket with thunderbird and coppers design. 34" x 44"
Button blankets are worn in ceremony and for other formal occasions by Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, from the Coast Salish peoples in Washington State to the Tlingit people in Southeastern Alaska.
The button blanket, which is worn as a robe around the shoulders, was a 19th century innovation using woolen trade blankets and may have even been inspired by American Naval uniforms.
Button blankets are constructed from woolen trade blankets through an applique technique that overlays a cutout crest image (often red cloth), over a dark blue or black ground cloth, which is in turn framed on three sides (left, right, and top) with trade cloth that is the same color as the applique crest image.
The image and the borders are outlined with mother of pearl or abalone buttons, giving the regalia its name. Some of the most elaborate button blankets can be found among the Kwakwaka’wakw people of the Central Coast of British Columbia and adjacent Vancouver Island.
This smaller button blanket would have been made for a child to wear as the primary component of their regalia. Although physically smaller than many examples, it has a much more ornate and elaborately decorated design with between 600 and 700 buttons on it.
The central figure is a Thunderbird, identified by its sharply curved beak and curled horns on the top of its head. It’s depicted in a relatively rare profile view, its wings raised, and head held at a 45-degree angle, as if to take flight in its next breath.
The Thunderbird is outlined in mother-of-pearl buttons, with internal ovoid and design elements also rendered in buttons. Around the border of the blanket are six Copper designs in buttons, with an interesting reticulating pattern of larger and smaller buttons encasing the ground side of the border.
The upper corners also have a branching pattern executed in buttons that, when the blanket is worn and clasped shut, would likely depict the Tree of Life design. A very fine example of Northwest Coast textiles.
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: Northwest Coast Coast, Native American
SIZE: 34" x 44"
Northwest Coast child's button blanket with thunderbird and coppers design. 34" x 44"
Button blankets are worn in ceremony and for other formal occasions by Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, from the Coast Salish peoples in Washington State to the Tlingit people in Southeastern Alaska.
The button blanket, which is worn as a robe around the shoulders, was a 19th century innovation using woolen trade blankets and may have even been inspired by American Naval uniforms.
Button blankets are constructed from woolen trade blankets through an applique technique that overlays a cutout crest image (often red cloth), over a dark blue or black ground cloth, which is in turn framed on three sides (left, right, and top) with trade cloth that is the same color as the applique crest image.
The image and the borders are outlined with mother of pearl or abalone buttons, giving the regalia its name. Some of the most elaborate button blankets can be found among the Kwakwaka’wakw people of the Central Coast of British Columbia and adjacent Vancouver Island.
This smaller button blanket would have been made for a child to wear as the primary component of their regalia. Although physically smaller than many examples, it has a much more ornate and elaborately decorated design with between 600 and 700 buttons on it.
The central figure is a Thunderbird, identified by its sharply curved beak and curled horns on the top of its head. It’s depicted in a relatively rare profile view, its wings raised, and head held at a 45-degree angle, as if to take flight in its next breath.
The Thunderbird is outlined in mother-of-pearl buttons, with internal ovoid and design elements also rendered in buttons. Around the border of the blanket are six Copper designs in buttons, with an interesting reticulating pattern of larger and smaller buttons encasing the ground side of the border.
The upper corners also have a branching pattern executed in buttons that, when the blanket is worn and clasped shut, would likely depict the Tree of Life design. A very fine example of Northwest Coast textiles.
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: Northwest Coast Coast, Native American
SIZE: 34" x 44"
$1,400.00
Original: $4,000.00
-65%Kwakwaka'Wakw Child's Button Blanket—
$4,000.00
$1,400.00Description
Northwest Coast child's button blanket with thunderbird and coppers design. 34" x 44"
Button blankets are worn in ceremony and for other formal occasions by Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, from the Coast Salish peoples in Washington State to the Tlingit people in Southeastern Alaska.
The button blanket, which is worn as a robe around the shoulders, was a 19th century innovation using woolen trade blankets and may have even been inspired by American Naval uniforms.
Button blankets are constructed from woolen trade blankets through an applique technique that overlays a cutout crest image (often red cloth), over a dark blue or black ground cloth, which is in turn framed on three sides (left, right, and top) with trade cloth that is the same color as the applique crest image.
The image and the borders are outlined with mother of pearl or abalone buttons, giving the regalia its name. Some of the most elaborate button blankets can be found among the Kwakwaka’wakw people of the Central Coast of British Columbia and adjacent Vancouver Island.
This smaller button blanket would have been made for a child to wear as the primary component of their regalia. Although physically smaller than many examples, it has a much more ornate and elaborately decorated design with between 600 and 700 buttons on it.
The central figure is a Thunderbird, identified by its sharply curved beak and curled horns on the top of its head. It’s depicted in a relatively rare profile view, its wings raised, and head held at a 45-degree angle, as if to take flight in its next breath.
The Thunderbird is outlined in mother-of-pearl buttons, with internal ovoid and design elements also rendered in buttons. Around the border of the blanket are six Copper designs in buttons, with an interesting reticulating pattern of larger and smaller buttons encasing the ground side of the border.
The upper corners also have a branching pattern executed in buttons that, when the blanket is worn and clasped shut, would likely depict the Tree of Life design. A very fine example of Northwest Coast textiles.
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
Est 1940s 34" x 44"
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: Northwest Coast Coast, Native American
SIZE: 34" x 44"
