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Beaded Valise

1903
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 746
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Nellie Gates made this case for her daughter Josephine as a gift upon her graduation from the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. On one side, she beaded the deeds of her father, Two Bear, in the 1863 Battle of White Stone Hill. On the reverse, she created images of the Lakota’s last big buffalo hunt in 1882. Gates was one of the most accomplished bead workers of her time. She created many other objects to honor meaningful events in her family history.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Beaded Valise
  • Artist: Nellie Two Bear Gates, Mahpiya Bogawin, Gathering of Clouds Woman (Native American, Dakota, Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota, born 1854)
  • Date: 1903
  • Geography: Object place Standing Rock Reservation, North or South Dakota, United States
  • Culture: Dakota
  • Medium: Commercial and native-tanned leather, glass beads, metal
  • Dimensions: 9 1/2 × 15 in. (24.1 × 38.1 cm)
  • Credit Line: Collection of Berte and Alan Hirschfield
  • Object Number: L.2022.13
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing