19th CENTURY PLAINS INDIAN PIPE BAGS

Images and Essay
on view in gallery from
March 4 - March 28, 2019

Plains Indian Pipe bags, left to right: Southern Cheyenne, Lakota, and Yankton Lakota

​Throughout the 19th century, Native American female artists across North America created and decorated the bags used by men to carry tobacco and pipes. The decorated pipe bag was an essential part of each man’s wardrobe.  How essential? Witness the photograph by John Hillers taken of a Cheyenne warrior in the 1875.(1) The pipe bag is his only accoutrement other than the pipe itself. In photos of various settings from  Washington, D.C. delegation photographs to in situ images like Hillers, the pipebag is a nearly indispensable manifestation of who the man says he is.

Ogllalla Lakota pipe bag

Cheyenne pipe bag

Pipe bags were objects of prestige, fashioned with pride for the loved one. Interestingly, the basic form of the bag, with slight variations, was the same throughout the Plains & Plateau. In the Central Plains, there frequently are quilled slats beneath the main body of the bag and fringe is always attached to the quilled slats. Other times there are no quilled slats, only fringe.  We have an example here that has triangular tabs at the bottom of the bag without a quilled panel. All the bags have a hide body with beaded decoration at the bottom. Most have a beaded design going up the side.  This format is evident in an Ojibway bag now in the collection of the Musee du Quai Branly that was sent to France by a French trader in 1721.(2) ​​

"Yellow Bear, Okmulgee, Indian Territory May 11, 1875" Credit: John K. Hillers (American, 1843 - 1925)

On the Plains, there was a general style of striped pony-beaded design that was found regionally among different tribal groups during this period..  It wasn’t until the introduction of the smaller and more colorful beads around 1845 that the different tribal styles developed (3). When the reservation period began, there was an increase in production for the marketplace  that corresponded with an increase in art supplies. By the time the 20th century began, the traditional ways had evolved and the standard pipebag was much wider than before and with more beadwork, generally on a white background.  Each generation should have its own ways but I prefer the older ones from the 1870’s, & 80’s, more carefully made, more finely tanned and, to my eye, more beautifully designed.
​

 Arapaho pipe bag

Crow pipe bag

Southern Cheyenne Pipebag

​Some believe that Native American beadwork reached an artistic height in color, design and production in a period that extended from the 1860’s into the 1890’S.  During this time, the Native American artist experienced an upheaval in the traditional lifeways, as well an abundance of new & plentiful art supplies. This confluence of events, along with a developing marketplace for these handcrafted goods, led to an artistic output not previously seen.  

​For the Plains Indian, the pipebag was second only to the moccasin in terms of what the marketplace desired. The height of pipebag design is from the time of the Indian Wars until the onset of the 20th century. The earlier bags generally were slimmer and longer than the than the ones post-1900. Design is generally less baroque than the later bags that often have extended design elements on a white background.
  

Plateau, probably Yakima Pipebag

Blackfeet pipe bag

​John Molloy Gallery is pleased to present this exceptional group of pipe bags from this time period.
Please continue to scroll down to view the entire show.
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Pipebags Photo Credit:  Stan Schnier
(1)Photo Title: Yellow Bear, Okmulgee, Indian Territory May 11, 1875; Credit: John K. Hillers (American, 1843 - 1925), © J. Paul Getty Trust
(2) American Indian Art, Volume 24, Number 2, Spring 1999, pg.3, Images
(3) THE PLAINS INDIANS Artists of Earth and Sky by Gaylord Torrence, Musee du Quai Branly, 2014, p.58

Arapaho, ex-Maasco Collection, ex-Splendid Heritage pipe bag

Blackfeet pipe bag

Cheyenne pipe bag

Dakota pipe bag

Cree pipe bag

Cree pipe bag

 Lakota pipe bag

Lakota pipe bag

​See more PLAINS BEAUTY images -->