Blanket strip

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Blanket strips cover the seam of two sewn-together halves of a bison hide, often used for men’s robes. Born of utility, the strips themselves became symbolic objects. Plains and Plateau men wore them on robes with or without seams, and they later appeared on trade blankets. The rosettes of this rare Plateau strip are constructed of quill-wrapped horsehair.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art