Cree Indian Moccasins-Ted Byers Collection-very Old -original Les Peters Coll.

Description

Cree Indian Moccasins-Ted Byers Collection-very Old -original Les Peters Collection.
The provenance from his catalogue lists ‘Cree mocc.
From Les Peters.
Leslie Hamilton Peters (1916-2010) Born and raised in Great Falls, Les Peters, when he was a child marched over to see Charlie Russell, but when Russell's adopted son Jack, about the same age as Les, answered the door, the two of them forgot all about art and spent the day playing. When Russell died, it was Les Peters who put the studio in order for visitors. As an adult, Les spent a summer in Banff with Charlie Beil studying art. Though Beil was a protegee of Russell's, it was Carl Rungius, Beil's neighbor, who impressed Peters. Peters' father sent him to the University of Montana where he got good grades in zoology and biology, and then to the University of Oregon for a year where he took sculpture courses. Back in Great Falls, Peters worked a year in a gas station and then joined the army in 1940. He served with the 11th Cavalry on the Mexican border for two years, but the unit was disbanded in 1942. He was sent to France and Germany with the 13th Armored Division. In 1945 he came home to Great Falls, bringing his new bride, Barbara Lyons of New York. His father, a prosperous man, offered to back the newlyweds for five years if Peters still wanted to be a wildlife artist. Rather than opening a studio, the pair returned to New York City where Peters studied at the Art Students League in the daytime and Central Park School of Art at night. Then he returned to his studio in Great Falls and got to work. Les is known for the quiet authenticity and accuracy of his paintings. He's spent a lot of time on horseback in the mountains absorbing that world. At first he used a camera to capture details, but soon abandoned it as a nuisance. Sometimes he lent his skills to the C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls. Always a quiet, even shy, man, he is not part of the social art scene, but certainly an important element of the bedrock understanding of art in the region. Many consider him the Gary Cooper of Montana painting
From the Ted Byers collection
Ted Byers was one of the largest collectors of authentic Native American artifacts and Indian Wars items/ relics in the State of Montana. He metal detected and picked his way across Montana in the early 1900’s, also acquiring previous historic collections along the way. He was known by all of the serious collectors and passed away in 2017. I have sold numerous items from his estate and the process continues.