Northwest Coast Haida button blanket/crest robe. A fabulous button blanket or crest robe created by a native Northwest Coast artist, purportedly of the Salmon clan, depicting two outward facing birds in red on a black ground with many white buttons outlining the forms. Additional floral/stellar and zigzag/lightning motifs adorn the red border. A button blanket is a wool blanket that is decorated with buttons and worn like a robe for ceremonial dances and potlatches. A central crest figure is created from red flannel appliques and buttons, and when worn over the shoulders, the crest design decorates the back of the wearer. According to Polly Sargent and Doreen Jensen, co-authors of “Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth” (1995) – the first oral history about these traditional works of fabric art and ritual, “The button blanket is eye-catching, prestigious and treasured – one of the most spectacular embellishments to the Indian culture of the Northwest Coast and a unique form of graphic and narrative art. The traditional crest-style robe is the sister of the totem pole and, like the pole, proclaims hereditary rights, obligations and powers. Unlike the pole, about which countless books and papers have been written, the button blanket has no chroniclers.” 66.75″ L x 50.375″
PERIOD: Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: Northwest – Haida, Native American
SIZE: 66.75″ L x 50.375″ W