Toy Cradleboard

This toy cradle consists of hide stretched across a teardrop-shaped wooden board. Across the Plains and Mountain West, Native American girls played with toy cradles that replicated the construction and design of similar full-size works. Here, lanes of beadwork create geometric designs, adorning the hide at top. The light blue ground and abstract beading with outlined forms are hallmarks of a style called Transmontane, shared by artists from multiple Native American groups in the mountainous areas west of the Plains.