belt

belt

belt

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Introduction

Finger woven belt. Anishinaabeg, made before 1860. Collected by English ethnologist Henry Christy and donated to the British Museum between 1860 and 1869.

Nation of Maker: Other
Nation of Origin

Anishinaabeg: RP based the attribution upon style and technique. Stylistically, it idoes not resemble Hodenosaunee weaving. Comparing this belt with items in the Lewis Henry Morgan collection would be one way to explore this further.

Date Made or Date Range: Mid 18 C to Mid 19 C
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Created with information from the British Museum accession record and observations made by the GRASAC research team.

Materials

Woven with wollen yarn dyed dark brown, dark red, gold, navy blue, and beige or natural. Decorated with small white pony beads and sewn together with linen thread.

Techniques or Format

Finger woven in three long pieces, one central band and two thinner edge bands. The pieces have been stitched together. Beads are interwoven into the outer edge bands. This item is of high virtuosity.

Motifs and Patterns

An unusual linked diamond pattern is woven into the belt's central piece. The edge pieces are decorated with a meandering beadwork pattern.

Original and Subsequent Uses

This belt was designed to be worn on a formal occasion.

Condition: This belt is in good to excellent condition. There are no tears or bead loss and its colours are still fairly vibrant.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Made no later than 1857 or 1860, when it was collected.

Current Location: British Museum, London, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: Am.2579
Collection at Current Location: Christy Collection
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Henry Christy
Collection Narratives and Histories

Collected by English ethnologist Henry Christy. This belt, along with several other items Christy had collected, was donated to the British Museum between 1860 and 1869.

GKS Reference Number: 24710
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Anishinaabeg artist, belt. Currently in the British Museum, Am.2579. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 24710.

Record Creation Context

This record was created as part of a Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) research trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum, December 8-22 2007, funded by a grant from the International Opportunities fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Record Creation Notes/Observations

Researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), John Borrows (JB), Lindsay Borrows (LB), Alan Corbiere (AC), Henrietta Lidchi (HL), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).

Approximate Place of Origin

45.7335, -82.1694

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