basket, birchbark

basket, birchbark

basket, birchbark

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Introduction

A birchbark basket with a rim wrapped in split root and porcupine quills. This single basket may have been part of a nested set made in graduated sizes. Given the location where it was collected and catalogue information it was probably made by an Anishinaabe or Chippewa artist. Collected by G.C. Beltrami in Wisconsin in 1823. Around 1856, Beltrami's nephew donated several objects, including this one, to the Civic Library of Bergamo. Later the collection was transferred to the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali, its current location.

Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe
Nation of Origin

Leonardo Vigorelli deduces that the "Local Group of Origin", as he writes in the Beltrami Collection''s Catalogue, is "Chippewa".

Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Based on museum documentation.

Materials

birchbark; split root; porcupine quills, dyed red and black.

Techniques or Format

This basket is made from a single piece of birchbark. The square base is made by four cuts in the piece of birchbark, with each seam held in place by a small tacking stitch to prevent the bark from splitting. The rim is reinforced with split root and wrapped at 90 degree intervals with porcupine quills.

Dimensions: 0 × 8.5 × 13 cm
Condition: Good
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 38 (Vigorelli's catalogue)
Collection at Current Location: Collezione Beltrami
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1850s
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: The Civic Library of Bergamo
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1823
Collection Narratives and Histories

Collected by G.C. Beltrami from Wisconsin in 1823. Beltrami's collection catalogue states that around 1856, Beltrami's nephew donated several objects to the Civic Library of Bergamo, which were later transferred to the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali.

Exhibition History

The Beltrami Collection was exhibited in Florence in 1929 during the "Prima Esposizione Nazionale di Storia delle Scienze" (First National Exposition of History of Sciences"). In 1973, during a celebration of the Beltrami exhibit, Glauco Luchetti donated three objects from his own collection, which were located in Beltrami's last house in Filottrano, to the "Museo Civico E. Caffi". In 1987 the collection was used in the exhibit entitled "Missisippi 1823. Oggetti indiani raccolti da G. Costantino Beltrami" in the Galleria Lorenzelli in Bergamo.

Comment on Source of Exhibition & Publication Data

Beltrami's Collection Catalogue.

Sources to Learn More

Leonardo Vigorelli, Gli Oggetti indiani raccolti da G.Costantino Beltrami, Civico Museo E. Caffi, Bergamo, 1987

GKS Reference Number: 26964
Record Creation Context

This record has been created by Emanuela Rossi after a trip funded by GRASAC to the Museo Civico E. Caffi in Bergamo, Italy in October 2008.

Record Creation Notes/Observations

Researchers present: Emanuela Rossi.

Approximate Place of Origin

43.0703, -80.1184

Source of Information about Places

In the Beltrami Collection Catalogue, the author, Leonardo Vigorelli, defines "Upper Mississippi" the Cultural Area of Origin. He defines "Northeast" as the Geographic Area.