This is an astounding polychrome painted Buffalo hide medicine shield dating to the 19th Century from the Kiowa Native American Indians. The piece is comprised of wetted and stretched Great American Bison Buffalo hide over a wood hoop frame, secured with old hide hoof glue and tree saps. The original Indian tanned hide shoulder strap is still intact, a scarce and desirable feature. The shield is hand painted in polychrome mineral pigment ocher colors of red, green, dark blue and a yellow background. At the front there are two imitation American Eagle feathers tied onto that are replacements for the original examples in an effort to comply with Federal U.S. Fish and Wildlife laws regarding birds of prey feathers, an attribute that lends to the pieces true authentic age. The piece has a typical geometric pattern with solid yellow background with large blue circular band bordering the edge with a smaller red dot surrounded by a band and flanked by the two feathers. Provenance: The piece was purchased by noted collector Cyrus Eaton in the 1990’s at the Santa Fe Indian Artifact Show and then placed in his personal collection in London, England. It exhibits a true wear and natural again with some flaking and fading of the paint in spots as seen on other documented examples. Yellow painted Kiowa Indian attributed shields exhibit common art features such as the “bulls-eye” circular designs, often with red center circles meant to represent the burning son, such as this example. Similar examples can be seen in “American Indian Weapons” by Dr. Colin Taylor, and in John Baldwins’ book “Indian Guns, Spears and Shields of the American Frontier”. The back shows reddish coloring with yellow spotting, possibly from being touched up from its well-preserved age. The shield measures 16 inches across. Truly a fine example showing nice well preserved honest condition with replacement feathers.