Featured in this lot is this Great Plains Kiowa Beaded Grass Brush, circa 1880s. The Kiowa migrated south from southwestern Montana into the Colorado Rocky Mountains and eventually moving into the Southern Plains before the forced reservation period of 1868 to 1906. This brush features dozens of strands of tall grass bound together, the handle adorned with chalk white and translucent pumpkin orange, green and turquoise colour seed beads, the lower seed bead fringe end with cowrie shells. Craftsmanship was a primary criterion for art, and a skilled hide and bead worker held as much esteem in the eyes of the community as any accomplished warrior did for his feats of valor in war. In spite of this, while beauty and craftsmanship was without question prerequisite for what was artistically acceptable. Decoration of clothing among southern Plains peoples followed a consistent pattern. Beadwork was generally confined to narrow lanes worked in a lazy stitch technique. Lazy stitch involves tacking down the thread or sinew every six beads with a small loop stitch. This creates a slight uplifting of the beads off the surface of the foundation material, providing a subtle tactile quality. This stunning example of intricate beadwork is in very nice condition, bead loss is slight, Measures 27"L.