Apron, dance or ceremonial

Apron, dance or ceremonial

Apron, dance or ceremonial

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Introduction

This relative, a ceremonial or dance apron, includes loom-woven quillwork appliqued bands and alternating groups of tassels made of red and blue dyed horse hair. The quillwork includes a zigzag band stitch. The apron is composed of tanned deerskin, porcupine quills, moosehair, horse hair, glass beads, commercial thread, and metal cones. Although the maker and exact region of origin are unrecorded, it is believed to be of Great Lakes origin with probable ties to the Huron-Wendat.

This relative currently resides at the National Museum of Ireland.

Name of Maker(s): Unrecorded
Maker role: Artist
Nation of Maker: Huron-Wendat
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

Attributed to Huron-Wendat due to the use of red and blue deer hair tassels and the appliqued loomed quillwork band.

Date Made or Date Range: 1800-1809
Materials

Tanned deerskin; porcupine quills, moosehair, natural white, orange, blue, black; red and blue-dyed horse hair; glass beads, white; commercial thread; metal cones.

Techniques or Format

Woven and embroidered quill work in zigzag band stitch

Additional Context

A clue to the manner in which it was worn may be contained in an early nineteenth-century male doll, attributed to the Huron-Wendat, which is dressed in a similar hide apron ornamented with appliqued woven quill work typical of Huron art. This doll is illustrated in the Patterns of Power catalogue, number 85. It is in the collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec (According to the text, Patterns of Power by Ruth Phillips).

Other Notes

Nikolaus Stolle notes: The hair in the tassels is horse hair, remnants of silk ribbon around central quilled panel, moosehair sewn between the bands of zigzag band quillwork on the central motif

Dimensions: 75 × 0 × 0 cm
Condition: very good
Current Location: National Museum of Ireland
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1880.1892
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1880
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Royal Dublin Society
Publication History

Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg,On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.

GKS Reference Number: 25368
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unknown. Apron, dance or ceremonial. GRASAC ID: 25368. National Museum of Ireland, 1880.1892.

Record Creation Context

This record was augmented by Dana Murray on July 23, 2024. It draws on notes from the GRASAC research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 23, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Ruth Phillips, Crystal Migwans, Rachel Hand, and Nikolaus Stolle, who were assisted by Padraig Clancy and Emma Crosby.

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