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bag, chatelaine
bag, chatelaine
bag, chatelaine
A purse or bag decorated with floral beadwork and a beaded looped fringe. Based on its style it is likely Haudenosaunee and made between 1850 to 1890. Collected by British artist and folklorist Miss E. Canziani or her parents. Loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1941 and bequeathed in 1964.
RP says the bag is characteristic of the Hodenosaunee style of beadwork. Information from J.M. Heilman, III, Curator of Anthropology, Dayton Museum of Natural History, based on a visit to the Pitt Rivers Museum in November 1998: "...you have a beaded bag listed as being European that would appear to be of Iroquois manufacture from Western New York or just north of there in Ontario, Canada." Confirmed as Iroquois by Laura Peers. (Pitt Rivers Museum Object Catalogue entry)
Pitt Rivers Object catalogue and observations made by the GRASAC research team.
Read More About This Relative
velveteen, black; cotton or linen, blue and burgundy; linen tape, brown; sizes 11 and 13 seed beads, in opaque white, green, yellow, pumpkin, dusty rose, red, translucent mustard and dark green, clear, greasy yellow, opalescent white; cardboard
The bag is made of black velveteen bound with blue and burgundy cotton or linen tape and lined with coarse brown linen. Its strap is made of brown linen tape. It is decorated with seed beads and has a looped fringe of size 13 yellow seed beads, strung on cotton thread. A cardboard pattern remains on the underside of the velvet. The beadwork is sewn on top of a cardboard pattern.
Motifs are stylized floral images, circular and spiked forms, both solid and striped.
The beadwork found on this item resembles the Hodenosaunee or Iroquoian style.
The bead colours, material (black velvet as opposed to brown velvet/velveteen), use of trim, and design field, are all elements that suggest carry-over from earlier traditions (1850s).
Provenance
Collected by Miss E. Canziani (3 Palace Green, Kensington W.8) or her parents, and loaned to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1941. "Under the terms of Miss Canziani's will, all loans became gifts on her death in August 1964." (Pitt Rivers Museum Object Catalogue entry)
More information on the life and collections of Estella Canziani can be found at http://england.prm.ox.ac.uk/englishness-Canziani-Introduction.html
Coote Lake, E.F, "Estella Canziani," Folklore, Vol.75 No.3 (Autumn, 1964): 206-208.
About This GRASAC Record
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).
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).