Rare Mesquakie Bear Claw Necklace and Turban

composed of thirty-one grizzly bear claws on an otter neck ring, each pierced through the center and joined together with a hide strip strung with an alternating series of large trade beads in white and pale green glass, a long tapering tab of otter fur suspended below, overlaid with a cloth panel stitched with rows of concetric diamond elements against a blue glass beadwork ground, backed with dark blue wool stroud, edged in red silk ribbon and trimmed with red, white and blue beadwork, together with a turban, similarly decorated with red silk and beaded details, and overlaid with three beaded medallions, with a concentric circle pattern. 

Reportedly belonged to Chief Pushatonaqua
Acquired from Morning Star Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Very good overall condition with typical wear from age and light use. The necklace has been mounted on clear plexi; some of the hide binding/strips are missing between claws but the necklace is stable. Typical fading and some light soiling on the cloth and silk ribbon.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For related examples and a discussion of turbans and bear claw necklaces see Penney, 1992, pp. 107-113: “The Grizzly Bear, Alone,” wrote Washington Irving, “of all the animals of our Western wilds, is prone to unprovoked hostility. His prodigious size and strength make him a formidable opponent; and his great tenacity of life often baffles the skill of the hunter…” Irving also remarked that “his enormous claws are worn around the neck of an Indian brave, as a trophy more honorable than a human scalp. He is now [1832] scarcely seen below the upper prairies, and the skirts if the Rocky Mountains” (Irving 1956:158-9). The “prairie grizzly” had once roamed in greater numbers in the wooded valleys of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. In this habitat, its foreclaws grew to great length in contrast to the short claws of bears inhabiting more rocky, mountain regions. Particularly worthy men of the Prairie tribes collected these long foreclaws of the prairie grizzly with the desire of one day owning enough to fashion a full necklace. Milford Chandler once helped a close Pawnee friend acquire a bearclaw necklace. Chandler recalled how they had collected all the necessary materials: a set of claws, an otter skin, the proper kinds of beads, and so on, and given them to members of the Pawnee clan who possessed the exclusive rights to assemble them into a necklace. To pay for the privilege, Chandler’s friend hosted a large feast and gave away a wagon and a team of horses (Lansford, pers. comm). Among western Great Lakes and Prairie peoples, “turbans” made of otter fur were the headdress of distinction, equivalent in a way to the feather bonnet of the Plains people. Some turbans include a long, pendant “trailer” made from an otter tail intended to hang down one side of the wearer’s head. On occasion, the turban is fashioned to resemble the form of an otter or other animal (pl. 43). This is an ancient style of North American headdress; engraved designs on marine shell cups from the Spiro site in eastern Oklahoma, dating between A.D. 1100 and 1350, show the same kinds of headdresses worn by Mississippian warriors (Phillips and Brown 1978, pl. 6).” Also see Sotheby's New York, May 1993, lot 128, color illustration.