From card [this notation was made circa 1914]: "(Bought over forty years ago)." Note re color digital photos: Neg. # 2006-732 is Overall view of object; Neg. # 2006-733 is Detail of Center Heart Shape.
Collected by Dr. Washington Matthews, and lent to the museum by Mrs. Caroline Matthews in 1914.
Decoration includes floral beadwork.
Illustrated Fig. 6.30 A, B, p. 115 in Cowdrey, Mike, Ned Martin, Jody Martin, Nakia Williamson, Paul M. Raczka, and Winfield Coleman. 2012. Horses & bridles of the American Indians. Nicasio, Calif: Hawk Hill Press. Identified there as Dakota-Metis Headstall, ca. 1860; wool and cotton cloth, wool seam-binding, wool yarn, silk ribbon, glass seed beads, faceted glass necklace beads, leather tie thongs. "Collected by Dr. Washington Matthew, a U. S. Army surgeon stationed at Fort Rice, DakotaTerritory, during the late 1860s, the unusually tiny seed beads are an indication that the artist had a personal connection to someone in the fur trade who was able to obtain the finest materials. It is very likely this artist was married to one of the French traders who, following the Dakota War of 1862-63, were in transition from their former homes in Minnesota, to their new homes far to the west as refugees among their Lakota kinsmen. It was this diaspora that introduced Dakota floral designs among many of the Lakota communities. A heart-shaped finial with a tuft of clipped yarn accents the center .... Among the many other, better-recognized cultural elements introduced to American Indian people by Euro-American traders were decks of playing cards. These were commonly available in the Dakota country by the 1820s, if not earlier. Thereafter, heart, spade and club designs began to appear as Indian artistic motifs. The diamond design has been employed by Indian artists for thousands of years."
