The collections of the National Museum of the American Indian include many button blankets from coastal British Columbia and Alaska, dating from the 1880s onward. Button blankets are somewhat uncommon in museums because collectors seeking “traditional” material often deemed their non-Native cloth and buttons unattractive. Worn by men, women, and children, button blankets are usually draped over the shoulders and fastened in front, so that the wearer’s crest—rendered as an applique design of red cloth or as a figure made entirely of button or shell—hangs boldly down the back. Dense borders of mother-of-pearl buttons and abalone shell accents glimmer against the robes’ rich dark blues and reds. Button blanket–making has boomed in the past two decades, and contemporary robes beautifully integrate introduced materials and traditional concepts in the Pacific Northwest. Ten full-color blank notecards (5 each of 2 styles) with envelopes in a decorative folio. ISBN 0-7649-3380-9. |
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Haida button blanket with split whale crest design, 1890–1920. 5 x 7” blank notecard with white envelope. | | Kwakwaka’wakw button blanket with Gwa’ka’lee’ka’la (Tree of Life) crest design, 1890–1920. 5 x 7” blank notecard with white envelope. This card is only available in the assortment. |
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