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Source Description
Plains women hung small bags often decorated with beads from their belts to keep their most important tools at hand. This one contained an awl, a shaft of bone, stone, or metal that tapered to a point and had many functions. One of the most important was to sew animal hides into garments: the awl was used to punch small holes in the hide, and then a thread made of animal sinew was laced through the holes and pulled tight.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
114635
label
Awl Case
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
114635
contentType
object
title
Awl Case
description
Plains women hung small bags often decorated with beads from their belts to keep their most important tools at hand. This one contained an awl, a shaft of bone, stone, or metal that tapered to a point and had many functions. One of the most important was to sew animal hides into garments: the awl was used to punch small holes in the hide, and then a thread made of animal sinew was laced through the holes and pulled tight.
date
c. 1890
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80007449
genreSpecific
Leather
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Overall: 33.7 cm (13 1/4 in.)
cul
Native North America, Plains, Gaigwu (Kiowa)
accession
1934.241
Source extras
tec
Native-tanned hide, glass beads, cotton thread
tombstone
Awl Case, c. 1890. Native North America, Plains, Gaigwu (Kiowa). Native-tanned hide, glass beads, cotton thread; overall: 33.7 cm (13 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Katherine Allen Perry, 1934.241
collection
AA - Native North America
didYouKnow
Plains women hung small bags often decorated with beads from their belts to keep their most important tools at hand.
creditline
Gift of Mrs. Katherine Allen Perry
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:00:54.986000
sourceId
114635
dept
Art of the Americas
coll
AA - Native North America
med
Native-tanned hide, glass beads, cotton thread
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
453e5b55017667fd