Description:
This object is a stuffed animal that appears to be a horse. The material used for stuffing is unclear, but it is stiff rather than soft. The top layer of fabric appears to be made of silk. The colors include deep red, yellow, green, and blue. Many of the fabric scraps are solid in color. A few, on the underbelly, the top of the front legs, and the head are non-solidly dyed. The scrap on the head is Ikat-dyed; the other non-solid fabrics may be Ikat-dyed as well. The material of the under layer of fabric, exposed in some places including the right back leg and the bottom of the right front leg, is unclear, but is likely burlap or cotton. The fabric is very worn and threadbare in certain locations and is detached on the front right leg.
The object is decorated almost entirely with glass seed beads of a variety of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black, white, and clear. The beads on the back and front of the horse are organized in a netting. Asymmetric strings hang off the sides of the horse. These may have once been symmetric since some of the strings have been lost or had beads fallen off of them.
There are also a variety of other beads on the horse. There are tubular black beads hanging in a string on the right side as well as in strings from the back of the horse’s head. These tubular beads also appear in the beadwork handing in front of the front legs. These pieces on the front also include red white-heart beads that differ from the rest of the seed beads. Other beads include the turquoise-color irregularly shaped bead hanging from the string on the side of the front right leg. There are also three two-hole blue and green beads on the back of the head.
The other material that appears on the object are the brass discs, jetons, that hang on off the bead netting on the front of the horse. Three remain on the horse, while one has fallen off. These tokens feature the words “Habelt” and “Plus Ultra” along with some unclear lettering on one side. The other side features imagery of a ship. The tokens have been punctured so they can be hung as ornaments.
Tags:
missionaries Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+8.O.M%28a%29 |
