Shirt, Western Plateau

Reportedly formerly in the collection of the Reichsmuseum für Völkerkunde, Leiden, the Netherlands

Denis Ghiglia, Paris

Acquired from the above by the present owner

This man’s shirt has defied ready attribution to a specific group, although expert opinion agrees that it is from the Western Plateau, and that it is of considerable rarity and age. This latter aspect is self-evident to the viewer and is given further credence by the results of a dye analysis undertaken by Dr David A. Wenger, which show that a sample of the wool taken from the “bib” was dyed with pure lac, and another sample from one of the cuffs was dyed with pure cochineal.

The rarity of this shirt is further reflected in the scarcity of comparable items. A stylistically similar shirt that has been attributed to the Umatilla is in the collection of Lee and Lois Miner, Yakima, Washington, while some aspects of the decoration bear comparison with a woman’s dress, attributed to the Nimíipuu (Nez Perce), which was acquired by George Gustav Heye from an unknown source in London in 1926 and is now in the National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. (cat. no. 15/161).