Red Wool Cradleboard / Paukeigope
Essay/Description
The framework is composed of four wooden supports, two long connected by two short cross pieces. The tops of the long wooden pieces are pointed and decorated with German silver buttons and remnants of silk ribbons. The pieces are attached to each other by way of semi-tanned hide laces that pass through holes in the wood. The cover substrate is rigid around the head and across the foot. The central cover sections lack a rigid substrate and are fabric only. These rigid sections are formed of rawhide with a thick stiff steel wire along the top edges. The interior of the cover is lined with cotton fabric. The exterior of the foot is covered with semi-tanned hide decorated with twisted semi-tanned hide fringe. Additionally there are two pink glass pony beads at the foot strung on semi-tanned hide laces. The remainder of the exterior is covered in red wool baize with two strips of semi-tanned hide inset lengthwise that laces to close the cover around the baby. The wool has decorative beadwork, both glass and brass, sewn with cotton thread with small areas of lazy stitch. There are cotton strings of larger brown and blue tubular glass beads hanging on the exterior. The strings of brown also contain some faceted brown beads. These two swags of beads that flank the head portion of the cover include two white metal medals: on the PL side one religious with St. Joseph holding baby Jesus on one side and Mary with the crucified Christ in a pieta on the obverse and a second medal from a store in Commerce, Texas is on the PR side. The cover is attached to the wooden support with semi-tanned laces that pass through holes in the wood. There is an additional decorative fabric element that is separate from the cover and attached to the wooden uprights above the top of the cover. This Is red baize backed with cotton and attached with semi-tanned hide laces. It is decorated with brass faceted beads in the form of crosses, glass seed beads in various colors and German silver buttons.