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A birch bark container, possibly made to carry water or liquid. Red woollen yarn is interwoven with the spruce root wrapped around the conatiner's rim. Great Lakes, likely Potawatomi, Anishinaabe, Mushkegowuk (Western James Bay Cree) Algonquin. Made in the nineteenth century. Donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in 1941 by Irene Marguerite Beasley, wife of Mr. H.G. Beasley, under the terms of her husband's will. Acquired by Mr. Beasley in 1932 from the Church Missionary Society of London.
The tag on the container says it is Potawatomi. However, because such items were made over such a large geographic region, RP suggested it could be Anishinaabe or Cree. CW added that such containers are presently being made by the Algonquin people in the Lake of Two Mountains region.
Pitt Rivers Object catalogue and observations made by the GRASAC research team.
Read More About This Relative
Birchbark; root, spruce; woollen yarn, red; string; leather thong; pitch
Made of birchbark, with spruce root with interwoven red woolen yarn wrapped around the rim. The birch bark is "sgrafitto," an art history term for the technique of scraping away an outer layer to reveal a colour underneath.
The red woolen yarn decorating the edge is interesting because appears to have been used in place of dyed porcupine quills, the material usually used to decorate the edge of birch bark containers.
The presence of pitch in the seams suggests this container was intended to be waterproof.
String has been used to attach the leather thong handle.
Parallel lines and linked down pointing triangles.
RP noted that the geometric motifs decorating this basket are characteristic of pre-contact art.
Noting the pitch on the basket's inside seams, LP suggested it may have been a water bucket or vessel.
RP said this container looks like it was made for use, not for the tourist trade.
According to RP, the presence of yarn on this type of basket is very, very unusual.
RP stated there is a collection of similarly shaped containers, made in the 1820s.
RP suggested the basket was made in the nineteenth century.
Provenance
Donated to the Pitt Rivers Museum in February 1941 by Irene Marguerite Beasley, the wife of H.G Beasley. Part of the collection made by Mr. Beasley known as the Cranmore Museum, it was given to the Pitt Rivers Museum under the terms of his will. The accession record indicates Mr. Beasley bought the basket from the Church Missionary Society, Exhibitions Department, London. LP said it may have come from the Church Missionary Society, or HBC employee, via Beasley.
About This GRASAC Record
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).
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).