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Pendants, Garter
Pendants, Garter
Pendants, Garter
These relatives, a pair of garter pendants, are composed of ribbon-work panels that have been backed with blue stroud. Basic geometric motifs of wavy lines and seriated diamonds have been included in the woven sections and are repeated in the ribbon applique. Materials also include wool yarn in green and deep rose, as well as white glass beads, pink, blue, green and light blue grosgrain silk ribbon, red-dyed animal hair used as tassels, commercial thread, and porcupine quills, which have been coloured red and black, as well as left natural white. Metal cones have been woven into tassels at either end of the pendants. Collected by British Army officer Jasper Grant between 1800-1809, the origins of the garter pendants are not certain; however, they have probable connections to the Great Lakes and Anishinaabe.
These relatives currently resides at the National Museum of Ireland.
The ribbonwork applique and the motifs of the interwoven beads are indicative of the Anishinaabe. This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984.
GRASAC research notes.
Read More About This Relative
Wool yarn, green, deep rose; beads, white glass; stroud, blue; grosgrain silk ribbon, pink, yellow, blue, green light blue; metal cones; red-dyed animal hair; commercial thread; porcupine quill, white, red, and black; natural vegetable fibres.
ribbonwork panels are backed with blue stroud
Geometric
The two examples of garter pendants in the Grant collection display the density of design and richness of textures and materials that characterized Great Lakes taste in the early nineteenth century. In both pairs, an overall control of design is seen in the way the basic geometric motifs of wavy lines and seriated diamonds in the woven sections are repeated in the ribbon applique.
This record draws on images and information recorded in Ruth Phillips's book, Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984. It also reflects the period of Grant's military service in Canada.
Provenance
Jasper Grant (1762-1812), Anglo-Irish officer who spent 9 years in Canada between 1800-1809. Served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit. It is likely that his wife, Isabella Grant, played a significant role in the collection of items given her close relationship to Madeline Askin Richardson, the daughter of a prominent fur trader and merchant with extensive ties to the surrounding Indigenous communities.
GRASAC research notes
In 1984-1985 the Jasper Grant Collection was featured in a special travelling exhibition for the Ontario bicentennial, which was organized by the McMichael Canadian Collection and entitled "Patterns of Power."
Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg,On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Philips, Ruth B. (1986-87). “Jasper Grant and Edward Walsh: the Gentleman-Soldier as Early Collector of Great Lakes Indian Art.” Journal of Canadian Studies 21(4): 56-71.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unrecorded. Garter pendants. GRASAC ID 25197 . National Museum of Ireland Collection, 1902.318-319.
This record was augmented by Dana Murray on July 23, 2024. It draws on images and information recorded in Ruth Phillips's book, Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984, and GRASAC research notes from the visit to the National Museum of Ireland on July 22, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Ruth Phillips, Crystal Migwans, and Nicholas Stolle, who were assisted by Padraig Clancy and Emma Crosby.
42.107, -83.1132
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984. Fort Walden is identified on the map as a possible origin for this relative, but this reflects only one place where the relative may have lived. It is not a known place of origin; it is only one location associated with where the collector, Jasper Grant, served in the British Army.