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Introduction

Mat made of birch bark, sweetgrass and flattened root, decorated with porcupine quillwork. Anishinaabeg, 19th century, likely from Manitoulin. Collected by Father Edward Purbrick in 1879 and donated to Stonyhurst College. One of several items purchased by the British Museum from Stonyhurst College in 2003.

Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe
Nation of Origin

Manufacture techniques and style.

Date Made or Date Range: Early 19 C to Late 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

Made of birch bark, sweetgrass, brown thread, flattened root and porcupine quills, natural and dyed purple, magenta, yellow, white, beige, brown, and green. Aniline dyes were used to colour the porcupine quills.

Techniques or Format

A central birch bark disc is edged in rows of coiled sweetgrass, followed by a zig zag row of flattened root, a ring of birch bark, sweetgrass, another zig zag row of flattened root, with a final outside ring of sweetgrass with two inlaid rows of single pinkish or magenta quills. Porcupine quillwork decorates the birch bark sections.

Motifs and Patterns

The central motif is a beaver. Floral motifs decorate the birch bark ring.

Dimensions: 0 × 0 × 0 cm
Condition: Fair. Quillwork has been lost from one of the flowers.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

British Museum accession record. Purbrick acquired this item, along with other similarly-quilled birch bark pieces, while on a tour of inspection to the English Catholic missions in the eastern Great Lakes.

Current Location: British Museum, London, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: Am2003,19.56
Collection at Current Location: Purbrick Collection
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 2003
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Stonyhurst College
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1879
Collection Narratives and Histories

Collected by Father Edward Purbrick in 1879 and subsequently donated to Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit school in Lancashire. The Stonyhurst Collection was purchased by the British Museum in 2003.

Sources to Learn More

A description of Father Edward Purbrick's collection and a discussion on the decorative styles of many of the birch bark items is found in Ruth Phillips, Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900 (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998), 182-3.

GKS Reference Number: 26404
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Anishinaabeg artist, mat. Currently in the British Museum, Am2003,19.56. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 26404.

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), Darlene Johnston (DJ), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Cory Willmott (CW).

Approximate Place of Origin

43.6, -71.9

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