The lot features a fantastic circa 1870’s Southern Cheyenne Native American polychrome painted Buffalo hide war shield. The piece came out of the Cyrus Eaton Estate in London, England and was also previously owned by collector and author Dr. Colin Taylor. The piece is made of thick Buffalo hump hide that has been Indian tanned and shows a slight concave shave. There are several examples in John Baldwin’s 2002 book, “Indian Guns, Spears and Shields of the American Frontier” that show other war shields when cut from the Buffalo’s hump will have a slight curve to the shape. The back side of the shield is fully covered with Buffalo hair and still has the original rawhide arm strap still attached. The southern Cheyenne and Arapaho were known to leaver the thick Buffalo hair on the reverse side of their war shields with some scholars speculating that this was done to cushion the Indians forearm from being scratched and rubbed raw from the hard rawhide. The piece shows a polychrome painted front surface done in mineral pigment dyes of green, yellow, and blue. The shield exhibited original Eagle feathers, which were removed to comply with Federal Bird of Prey laws and replaced many years ago by a gallery in Santa Fe with four imitation feathers. At the center of the shield shows a small cluster of small partridge feathers. The shield shows a nice patina and exhibits true age and expected wear from use. Provenance: The shield was originally collected from the Southern Cheyenne in Western Oklahoma in the 1930’s and is from the ex-collections of Jacob Greene, Dr. Colin Taylor and the Cyrus Eaton Estate in London, England. The shield measures 19 inches across.