birchbark; wooden splint; split root or vegetal fiber

Made from a single piece of birchbark, with four incisions made its sides and each seam held in place by a small tacking stitch to prevent the bark from splitting. A wooden splint has been attached to the upper rim, lashed on with split root or vegetal fibre. Another piece of birchbark has been tacked on as a lid, though it appears to be torn. Both of the main surfaces are decorated with geometrical motifs applied using a scraping, or scgraffito technique.

Geometric motifs: chained diamonds, zig zags.

Collected by G.C. Beltrami from Wisconsin in 1823. Beltrami's collection catalogue states that around 1856, Beltrami's nephew donated several objects to the Civic Library of Bergamo, which were later transferred to the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali.

The Beltrami Collection was exhibited in Florence in 1929 during the "Prima Esposizione Nazionale di Storia delle Scienze" (First National Exposition of History of Sciences"). In 1973, during a celebration of the Beltrami exhibit, Glauco Luchetti donated three objects from his own collection, which were located in Beltrami's last house in Filottrano, to the "Museo Civico E. Caffi". In 1987 the collection was used in the exhibit entitled "Missisippi 1823. Oggetti indiani raccolti da G. Costantino Beltrami" in the Galleria Lorenzelli in Bergamo.
In 1988, this object was in the exhibit "The Spirit Sings", Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta.

Beltrami's Collection Catalogue and The Spirit Sings catalogue.

Leonardo Vigorelli, Gli Oggetti indiani raccolti da G.Costantino Beltrami, Civico Museo E. Caffi, Bergamo, 1987

The Spirit Sings. Artistic tradition of Canada''s First People, A Catalogue of the Exhibition, Glenbow-Alberta Institute, 1988, p. 68

This record was created by Emanuela Rossi after a trip, funded by GRASAC, to the Museo Civico E. Caffi in Bergamo, Italy in October 2008.

Researchers present: Emanuela Rossi