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An early painted hide fold-down cape with abstract painted design elements | Donald Ellis Gallery
Detailed view of the painted design elements on an early hide fold-down cape | Donald Ellis Gallery

Fold-Down Cape

Assininboine (?)
Northern Plains

late 18th/ early 19th century

hide, paint

height: 66"
width: 76"

Inventory # P4225a

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folded dimensions: 40" × 76"

PROVENANCE

The Forbes family, Edinburgh, Scotland

According to oral tradition within the Forbes family, this cape was brought back to Scotland from Canada by George Forbes (1849-1936) who was a consulting engineer for the Niagara Falls & River Railway Power House, in Niagara Falls, Ontario. However, it is more likely that the Native American garments in the Forbes family’s possession arrived earlier to Scotland via business connections of Forbes’s grandfather Sir William Forbes, 7th Baronet of Pitsligo (1773–1828), or of his great-grandfather, Sir William Forbes, 6th Baronet of Pitsligo and Monymusk (1739–1806), a lawyer and co-owner of one of the most successful private banks in Edinburgh.

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