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Auction artist Tom Greco can always be counted on to produce topnotch pieces for the CLF Fundraising Auction. His donation to this year’s event is no exception.
His set is built around a native-inspired open-top hunting bag. It’s a museum quality reproduction that has the look of a centuries-old original. The bag is made from brain-tanned leather and sports a deep brown patina achieved with walnut hull dye; it was given a protective coat of bear grease. The bag is trimmed with a decorative band of black satin ribbon, and it’s further decorated with trade beads, brass cones, and red horse hair tufts. The accompanying horn has an elegantly turned horn screw tip. The horn is well aged and carries subdued scrollwork engraving.
Photography by David Wright
Text by Joshua Shepherd
During the French and Indian War, Captain Pierre Pouchot kept a meticulous record of the remarkable tribal cultures that he encountered in the North American wilderness. A keen observer, Pouchot left a priceless record of seemingly insignificant details which others easily overlooked. When explaining the dress of France’s Indian allies, Pouchot described a minor but vital part of a warrior’s leg wear. “They wear garters of beads, or porcupine quills,” wrote Pouchot, “bordered four fingers wide, which are tied on the legs.”
This year’s CLF fundraising auction will feature a richly decorated pair of Native American leg ties by Bill Wright, one of the country’s most respected quill artisans. Wright’s leg ties, each measuring twelve inches long, were crafted from deeply colored brain tanned deer leather and adorned with dyed porcupine quills straight from the back country of the Great Lakes. The reverse side of the ties carry linen panels, and the bottom edge of the ties feature another traditional tribal decorative detail: tufts of dyed red deer hair affixed to a row of aged brass cones.
Bill Wright’s work is in high demand, and his offering at this year’s auction affords collectors a rare chance to snatch up a piece of his art. The contrast of dyed quills against rich brown leather inevitably results in a visually appealing work of art that makes a fine addition to any display of frontier artifacts, and is well suited to both reenactors and collectors.
For more information on the work of Bill Wright, contact the artist directly: wrightsgarden@hotmail.com
Photography by David Wright
Text by Joshua Shepherd