This is an excellent, scarcely seen, and authentic carved wood polychrome mineral painted courting flute from the Lakota Sioux Native American Indians, dating to circa 1900. The piece shows a solid softwood construction with traditional pattern, showing the opening of the flute as the head of a crane bird with wonderful facial effigy details. The flute has several carved ridges, the correct four spot long slit carved opening just before the end, and a flattened spot along the top with six crudely drilled holes, as well as a checkering crisscross “X” burnt and carved finish. The piece has stylized bird saddle covers tone hole on top of a lead metal slide affixed with later-replaced Indian tanned hide. The piece is wrapped with early original Indian tanned hide just before the holes, at the opening, which holds three wound glass green and four Hudson Bay red white heart wound glass pony and two various sand or Russian faceted trade beads, all of an early age. The top shows a carved and inlaid bone mouthpiece further decorated with a burnished end, checking, and a wrapping of hide and hide tie, along with a tight wrapping of white wound cotton. The entire flute has a nice mineral ocher/ ochre red and black painted finish, which is worn in several places. At the bottom of the pipe, near the opening, is handwritten with collection museum markings, “Sioux circa 1900” and “7231”. For other crane head bird courting flutes from the Lakota Sioux, see the example from Cowan’s Auction dated to circa 1918 and sold in 2013 for $7,000. Early authentic original examples, such as this, are exceedingly scarce and rarely come onto the public market, with this being only the second example our company has ever offered for sale; the first being a Lakota 1880-1900 flute without bird effigy carving that sold in 2018 for $2,400. Provenance: From a private museum collection in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of France. The piece measures 27 5/8” L without fringes.