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bag, neck or shoulder
bag, neck or shoulder
bag, neck or shoulder
A skin pouch backed with a finger-woven strap, decorated with geometric porcupine quillwork and tassels of dyed animal hair. Likely of Great Lakes origin, Anishinaabe or Hodenosaunee, and made in the 18th century. Donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum by Irene Marguerite Beasley in 1954.
Based on style. Laura Peers suggested the bag could be from a more eastern region, possibly New England or bordering areas.
Museum documentation and the GRASAC research team.
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deer skin, lightly smoked; fabric, corduroy; porcupine quills, white and dyed red-orange, black, light blue, yellow; metal cones; animal hair, dyed red; yarn, red, mauve, yellow.
The bag's front is made of lightly smoked deer skin, and its back and lining is made of a corduroy fabric. The bag is almost square, with one pocket. The bottom of the bag's front is almost completely covered with zig zag or folded quillwork. The GRASAC research team agreed that quillwork is exceptionally well done. A finger-woven strap is attached to the bag.
Checkerboard and shallow chevron motifs are on the bag's body, and diagonal stripes are found on the strap.
RP said that the bag is decorated with a "streaming power design" - a very active design.
An entry in the Pitt Rivers Accession book states that "In the opinion of Prof. Gaylord Torrence (Drake University, Iowa), this is a charm bag, possibly a very early Mesquakie piece."
Natural materials on this bag could be used as a clue as to its origin.
Made before 1931. The GRASAC research team agreed that the bag has an 18th century feel.
Provenance
Donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1954 by Irene Marguerite Beasley. The wife of British brewer and avid collector Harry Geoffrey Beasley, Mrs. Beasley oversaw the transfer of several items in her husband's collection to various museums upon his death. In 1931 this sheath entered Harry Beasley's own collection, held at his Cranmore Musuem in Kent. It was one of several items subsequently transferred to the Blackmore Museum in Salisbury, before reaching the Pitt Rivers Museum.
About This GRASAC Record
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).
researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), Al Corbiere (AC), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Laura Peers (LP), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).
45.8, -83.9
Based on style.