blackened smoked deer hide; coarse linen; moose hair, dyed red-orange, blue, salmon-pink, and white; ribbon; tin cones; animal hair, dyed red-orange and blue; wool cloth, brown or black faded to brown (or overdyed); glazed cream-colored coarse linen cloth; pigment, red.

This D-shaped shoulder bag is made of blackened smoked deer hide, lined with linen cloth. The back of the bag is unblackened. The moose hair is on a cloth background, over the deer skin (?says this in PRM object catalogue, but not in notes from GRASAC research trip). The strap is of cloth and canvas. A fragment of ribbon is used to tie the pouch shut. The front panel is bordered by densely packed tiny tin cones, filled with red-orange and light blue animal hair. There were 12 rows of tin cones with animal hair (alternating blue/white) but only 6 extant. There is red pigment on the back of the bag.

The embroidery design follows function: the stitching goes in a loop to mark a hole where a loop or toggle would have been a fastener. There is a double curve motif that is actually scrolls. The design makes a clever play on lack of symmetry. There is naturalism in the floral design on the shoulder band rather than a stylized design. The style indicates that the pouch and the strap had the same maker.

CW notes that the embroidery may be quill, it is shinier and fatter than the usual moose hair appearance.

Stylistic characteristics: RP, LP. The accession record says circa 1830.

Purchased from Southeby's on December 12, 1932, by Henry Wellcome. Donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1951 from the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum.

On permanent display at the PRM from March 2007 in case L.116.C with the caption: North America, Canada or USA: Iroquois. The PRM label reads: N. American Indian Iroquois c. 1830. Gift of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum 1951.2.28 [EC 'DCF 2004-2006 What's upstairs?' 16/2/2006]

This data was from the PRM object catalogue.

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), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Laura Peers (LP), Ruth Phillips (RP), Anne De Stecher (AS), Cory Willmott (CW).