Northwest Coast Button Apron With Copper

Northwest Coast button apron with copper imagery, Central Coast of British Columbia. 26" x 27" Button robes made of trade cloth have been an important feature of many Northwest Coast cultures for the last two centuries. This particular from of regalia is created with an applique technique, in which a cut-out crest image or other design is applied to a solid ground color, which is then framed by a border of fabric that is generally the same color as the crest image. The crest image in the center and the border around the edge of the blanket are then outlined with abalone or mother-of-pearl buttons. In addition to robes, this same applique technique has been used to make headdresses, tunics, shirts, bags, leggings, and dance aprons, such as this one. This dance apron is fairly complex in its imagery and elaborately decorated. The anthropomorphized Copper and the extensive use of different sized beads and bells likely indicate a Central Coast of British Columbia origin, perhaps Kwakwaka’wakw or Heiltsuk. The main image is a Copper with a Human face, rendered in rectangular abalone shells and round mother-of-pearl buttons. Coppers signify wealth and prestige in Northwest Coast communities, and their display is a declaration of status by whomever is showing it. This apron is similar in construction to a button blanket, using the same applique technique, but differs in scale and how the red and black fabric relate to one another visually. In this apron, the red border becomes the ground with two black panels breaking up the field of design. The apron is outlined in mother-of-pearl buttons around its perimeter and around the black panels, with larger mother-of-pearl buttons, trade beads, and brass bells cutting across the center of the apron. This is a finely made piece of regalia that would have been work by a community member in ceremony or for formal occasions.