bag, shoulder

bag, shoulder

bag, shoulder

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Introduction

This relative, a finger-woven shoulder bag, is decorated with white pony beads. Made in the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth century, it was collected in the Ohio Valley. Acquired by the British Museum from the Beasley Museum through Harry Geoffrey Beasley's wife, Mrs. Irene Marguerite Beasley, in 1944.

This relative currently resides in the British Museum.

Name of Maker(s): Unrecorded
Maker role: Artist
Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Hodenosaunee/Haudenosaunee
Nation of Origin

Anishinaabeg or Haudenosaunee

Date Made or Date Range: Mid 18 C to Early 19 C
Materials

Made of red dyed vegetable fibre yarn that fades to gold in some places and black dyed woolen yarn, found on the strap's edges. The bag is decotared with white pony beads. A coarse, red dyed woolen binding edges the bag's mouth while its interior is lined with brown linen fabric.

Techniques or Format

The bag is made of two finger woven panels sewn together and lined with fabric. Its strap is attached to the top corners of the bag. The ends of the weaving have been left loose, forming a fringe on both the bag's body and strap. Beadwork designs are woven into the body and strap of the bag. Some individual strands of the fringe have also been decorated with beads.

Motifs and Patterns

One side of the bag has a checkerboard or diamond beaded pattern and the other is decorated with horizontal parallel zig zag lines. On the strap, one side has parallel opposed zig zag lines, while the other has a repetitive motif composed of small and large, single and double ordered diamonds. The strap's design does not change in the middle, but rather on the top of one side.

Condition: This item is in fair condition.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Made in the mid 18th to early 19th century.

Current Location: British Museum, London, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: Am1944,02.214
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Mrs. Irene Marguerite Beasley, on behalf of the Beasley Museum
Collection Narratives and Histories

Acquired from the Beasley Museum through Harry Geoffrey Beasley's wife, Mrs. Irene Marguerite Beasley, in 1944. This item's tag says it was "field collected in the Ohio Valley," but lacks other contextual information.

GKS Reference Number: 24788
How to Cite this Item

Unknown artist, bag, shoulder. Currently in the British Museum, Am1944,02.214. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 24788.

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), John Borrows (JB), Lindsay Borrows (LB), Alan Corbiere (AC), Henrietta Lidchi (HL), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).

Approximate Place of Origin

38.759788141921, -83.870439380516

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