Native shirt fetches record price

The sale set a new auction record for an American Indian art

A Native American shirt owned by a Scottish earl has been auctioned off for almost £500,000.

The quilled and pony-beaded hide shirt set a new record when it was sold by Sotheby's to a private collector.

The shirt, thought to be from the Blackfoot tribe, was from a collection belonging to the Earl of Southesk, who lives at Kinnaird Castle in Angus.

It was bought for £477,130 in New York in a sale of 39 items which had been collected by the earl.

The shirt is part of what is believed to be the most historically significant collection of Native American art to be offered at auction.

Carefully preserved

Sotheby's sale specialist David Roche said: "The sale, which set a new world record for an American Indian art object at auction, reflected the enormous range of artistic traditions of Native Americans.

"The competition demonstrated the mounting appreciation and demand for quality works of art in the field, and we are pleased that many of these items were purchased and will be carefully preserved by institutions."

Of the 39 lots from the collection, built up during the ninth Earl of Southesk's exploration of the Rocky Mountains during the 1850s, 29 were purchased by the Royal Alberta Museum in Canada.

These included an early Upper Missouri river beaded hide dress, which sold for £267,570, and an early pair of Upper Missouri river beaded hide leggings, which went under the hammer for £50,008.