red velvet; light pink cotton; paper; small (size 12) opaque white and clear glass beads; translucent tubular beads; brown thread.

An eight-lobed circular piece of red velvet decorated with slightly raised beadwork applique, parts of which have been done on top of paper patterns. The mat is backed with a piece of cotton. A piece of paper or cardboard has been placed between the velvet and cotton. There may have been a ribbon edging around the mat, which has since disintegrated.

Floral and leaf. There is a border of a double row of clear beads flanked by single rows of opaque white beads.

The catalogue card says this item was made during the Victorian Era. As well, it resembles a lamp mat illustrated in Ruth Phillips' Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900 (1998), made in the second half of the 19th century (p.40, fig. 1.29).

Gift of Marshall Joseph Becker

GRASAC research visit by David Penney, Ruth Phillips, Stacey Loyer, William Wierzbowski, December 3, 2009