bag, basswood

bag, basswood

bag, basswood

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Introduction

A finely woven rectangular basswood bark bag with a 'flap-over' top. Likely Anishinaabe. Purchased from the Chippewa Reservation by anthropologist Beatrice Blackwood, on behalf of the Pitt Rivers Museum, in June of 1939.

Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe
Nation of Origin

This style of basswood bag is known to have been collected from the Anishinaabe of Minnesota.
This item was purchased from the Chippewa Reservation by anthropologist Beatrice Blackwood, on behalf of the Pitt Rivers Museum, in June of 1939.

Date Made or Date Range: /1939
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Based on museum documentation and the GRASAC research team.

Materials

bark, basswood.

Techniques or Format

The bag is finely woven in a rectangular flat shape and a 'flap-over' top. The weaving material alternates between fine and wider strips of bark to achieve a decorative striped effect. The warp is fine and twisted, while the weft is untwisted.

Other Notes

The weaving technique used on this bag may resemble old mats found in the Vienna Museum. Is this type of flat construction, size or flap unusual in bags? ask Marcia Anderson (Chief Curator, Minnesota Historical Society, in 1999). Might the warp thread be nettlestalk?

Dimensions: 23.4 × 27.5 × 0 cm
Condition: The bag's corner and lower edge is damaged.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

This bag was acquired by the museum in 1939.

Current Location: Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, United Kingdom
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1939.6.16 B
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1939
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Beatrice Blackwood
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1939
Collection Narratives and Histories

This bag was purchased from the Chippewa Reservation by anthropologist Beatrice Blackwood on behalf of the Pitt Rivers Museum, in June, 1939.

GKS Reference Number: 26864
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), Al Corbiere (AC), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Laura Peers (LP), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).

Approximate Place of Origin

46.2, -90.9

Source of Information about Places

See below.

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