Cover for sacrificial animal (reindeer)

Mansi

Tobolsk Guberniya, Berezovsky Uyezd

late 19th - early 20th centuries

Cloth: cloth; cloth: cotton; fur (red fox); metal: bronze; glass: colored glass; threads: plant fiber: cotton; metal

length 82.0; width 75.0

РЭМ 1710-427

The coverlet depicts a horseman, symbolizing the younger son of the supreme deity Mir-susne-khum (literally, "a man who examines the world"). According to traditional myths and legends, Mir-susne-khum gave a shamanic gift. Such bedspreads were made in connection with important events in the life of the family: after marriage, in the middle of life, in old age. When referring to the supreme deity, the Mansi performed a ritual of sacrifice: the animal (deer) intended for sacrifice was covered with such a veil.