Dress
1 of 2
Caption
Sioux; possibly Santee, Sioux. Dress, late 19th–early 20th century. Wool cloth, elk teeth,(or teeth carved from horn) silk ribbon, brass and tin sequins, 49 5/8 x 36 1/4 in. (126 x 92.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund, 46.96.13. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 46.96.13.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Cultures
Title
Dress
Date
late 19th–early 20th century
Geography
Place made: United States
Medium
Wool cloth, elk teeth,(or teeth carved from horn) silk ribbon, brass and tin sequins
Classification
Dimensions
49 5/8 x 36 1/4 in. (126 x 92.1 cm)
Credit Line
Charles Stewart Smith Memorial Fund
Accession Number
46.96.13
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What kinds of teeth were used on garments like this to decorate it?
The teeth you see on this dress come from an elk. It was a very popular design on Plains women's clothing in the 19th century.The large number of teeth on this garment indicates that its owner was of relatively high status. One elk only yields two teeth of this type so they required a lot of effort to obtain.
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