Painted Bison Robes: The Missing Link in the Biographic Art Style Lexicon

Northern Plains Biographic style Indian art was done in rock art, hide paintings, and ledger books. Rock art and ledger art have been well studied and a preliminary lexicon to help interpret these drawings has been defined. Biographic robe art, although not as well known to scholars of Plains Indian art, provides the missing link to further develop the Biographic art lexicon. The importance of painted robes derives from their early date, coupled with the refinement and flexibility of robe art for illustrating nuances of detail