This is an exceptional 19th Century Sioux beaded sheath and trade knife. The sheath is comprised of Indian tanned and parfleched Buffalo Bison hide with geometric beadwork done in all early period glass trade seed beads. The beadwork shows colors of greasy blue, black, semi-transparent rose, greasy white / chalk white, and greasy butterscotch yellow. This was collected from the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota (the same as Sitting Bull and his band) and is nearly identical to sheath from Sitting Bull pictured on page 31 of John Baldwin’s 2006 book “Indian Beaded Sheaths of the American Frontier”; It is very possibly from the same artisan of the tribe as our piece. Baldwin also noted a pair of Hunkpapa Sioux Standing Rock moccasins attributed to Sitting Bull in the same manner as this piece. The original tie-strap is shown on the back. The sheath is paired with an old trade knife with bone handles, pewter hilt and clear maker's mark from Hawley Brothers, a German trade knife. The set is well preserved with little to no bead loss. Truly a beautiful set. The pictures shows an example of the Baldwin page and Sitting Bull. Provenance: Ex-collection of Dale Harrison Cincinnati, Ohio. Sheath measures 10 ¾ inches in length by 3 ½ inches wide. Knife is 12 inches in length.*