Nez Perce Full-Sized Cradle

I bought this full-sized cradle from a Nez Perce woman who had been carried in it when she was a baby, her babies had been carried in it, as was her mother, her grandmother and other members of her family going back to when it was made. When I bought it, it was in great condition with no missing beads and the small triangular fetish and shell disk were attached as well as the beaded red stroud hood with flowers.  The original native tanned hide had been replaced with cotton canvas at some point because of the deterioration of the hide through the use over time by various babies. I sent it to Mark Miller in Montana and he replaced the canvas with native tanned hide as it originally had been. The beads in the cradle back are all the tiny faceted beads popular with the Nez Perce in the 1890-1900 period. This is a wonderful cradle with a full provenance of its history which often is not known.

L. 39 ½” : W. 14 ½”