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Moccasins
Moccasins
Moccasins
These relatives, a pair of moccasins, are one-piece constructions made of smoked, tanned deerskin. Decorated with red, white, yellow, and blue porcupine quills over vamp and heel seams and on cuffs. Quill work includes zigzag band, one-quill plaiting, and two-quill diamond stitches. These relatives were collected by British Army officer Jasper Grant between 1800 and 1809 while he was stationed in Canada. Although the origins of these relatives are not certain, they are probably Anishinaabe.
These relatives currently reside in the National Museum of Ireland.
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power: Kleinburg,On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Read More About This Relative
Smoked, tanned deerskin; porcupine quills: red, white, yellow, light and dark blue; sinew.
One-piece construction; quill embroidery over vamp and heel seams and on cuffs; quill work in zigzag band, one-quill plaiting, and two-quill diamond stitches.
Jasper Grant served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit from 1800-1809.
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 researcher notes from research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 21, 2010.
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. Moccasins. GRASAC ID: 26822. National Museum of Ireland Collection, 1902.345.
This record was augmented by Dana Murray on November 14, 2024. It was informed by notes and images collected during a GRASAC research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 21, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Bhnens Corbiere, Crystal Migwans, Nikolaus Stolle, Rachel Hand, and Ruth Phillips, who were assisted by Padraig Clancy.
42.107, -83.1132
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984. Fort Malden 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.