This is a truly stunning and historic 19th-century painted hide robe showing a buffalo and sunburst / bonnet design and is from the Northern Plains from a large Native American collection from Paris, France. The piece is comprised of a thick Indian tanned hide likely an Indian pony with hair on. The inside shows an astounding mineral pigment polychrome painting on the surface; at the center shows concentric circles of repeating feather like symbols arranged in a sunburst / bonnet pattern, typical of Upper Missouri and Sioux robes (as noted by Danica Farnand Cowan’s and Hindman Freeman’s). At the center of the design is a Maltese like cross and the outside layer shows tipi like triangular designs with radiating lines which extend to the outer edge of the hide. Circling the central design are various Great American Bison Buffalo in black showing a buffalo run or buffalo hunt; these designs have been noted as being particularly used by the Sioux and Crow of the Northern Plains, as well as the Northern Cheyenne. Furthermore the corners show more radiating feather bonnet designs, two of which have a tipi / tepee like appreance and lastly at the bottom several tipi / tepee lodges covered in beautifully painted hides with single black horse pony at the center. Provenance: From a private Paris, France collection of Native American antiquities. Measures overall 67-inches by 59-inches. The hide robe is a fine representation of the artistry of the the American Indians of the 1800’s Indian Wars era with this being a phenomenal authentic example. A few aspects of this piece are truly important: First the use of three or more mineral pigment colors; Second the use of a pony hide; Third the presence of both the pinwheel sunburst and buffalo effigy figures or hunt scene without Native Americans being present; and Fourth the nice size of the piece. For reference see the Plains Painted Buffalo Robe sold by Hindman Freeman’s in their April 2025 sale for $23,040 and the Kiowa Painted Large Hide, also horse or mule offered at $35,000 at NAAC’s August 2020 sale showing a very similar dark running buffalo with burst pattern at the center. For more examples of sunburst patterns with horses or hunt scenes see: The Máto Topé (Four Bears) Mandan Robe, c. 1832, at the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland. Visions of the People. p. 190-191, fig. 148 A robe identified as Ute c. 1875-1880 at the Kansas City Museum of History and Science. Pictured in Sacred Circles: Two Thousand Years of North American Indian Art; cover and p. 185, f. 488.