box, birchbark with moosehair embroidery

box, birchbark with moosehair embroidery

box, birchbark with moosehair embroidery

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Introduction

Late 19th century oval shaped birchbark box ornamented with natural and dyed moosehair embroidery depicting two women paddling in a canoe on the lid surrounded by foliage and a floral wreath. Attributed to Wendat (Huron) or Wendat-Mohawk. Collected by Herman Ten Kate at St. Regis (Akwesasne) during the 1880s.

Nation of Maker: Mohawk Huron-Wendat
Nation of Origin

Museum files indicate this object came from St. Regis (Akwesasne), but it appears to strongly resemble Huron-Wendat moosehair embroidery work. According to publications it is possible that this box, along with a similar object from the Leiden collection (catalogue no.2012-11), was created in Wendake (Lorette) and later traded into Akwesasne, or was created by a Wendat woman who married into a Mohawk family (See "The Ten Kate Collection", 2010)

Place of Origin: Akwesasne
Date Made or Date Range: 1870s to 1880
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation, GRASAC generated

Materials

birchbark; moosehair, natural and dyed pink/purple, yellow, green, brown; black thread

Techniques or Format

Oval shaped box made of birchbark sewn with black thread and decorated with moosehair embroidery. Interior band of birchbark forms a liner for the body of the container and projects above the box side which the lid fits over.

Motifs and Patterns

The lid features two women paddling in a canoe on the water, surrounded by foliage and a floral vignette. The sides of the lid are decorated with small perhaps floral designs, and the sides of the body of the container are decorated with a chain of flowers, echoing the floral vignette found on the lid.

Additional Context

"The centre centre of the lid on a box collected by Ten Kate shows two Indians paddling in a canoe, framed by a wreath of leaves and flowers. The pictorial vignette is a direct descendant of an emblematic motif invented by the Ursuline nuns during the eighteenth century." Pieter Hovens, with contributions by Duane Anderson, Ted Brasser, Laura van Broekhoven et al. "The Ten Kate Collection 1882-1888". Leiden: ZKF Publishers, 2010, pp 23-24.

Other Notes

Pen notation on the bottom of the box in Dutch: "Doosje van berkenbast en gekleurde stekels van het stekelvarken. St. Regis Indian res. New York". English translation: "Little box made of birchbark and colored porcupine quills. / St. Regis Indian reservation / New York".

Dimensions: 14.7 × 10.4 × 6 cm
Condition: Overall good; slight damage to moosehair, possible fading to dyes
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Museum documentation

Current Location: Museum Volkenkunde, Leiden, Netherlands
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 362-5
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1883
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Herman ten Kate
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Early 1880s
Collection Narratives and Histories

Collected by Herman ten Kate in the 1880s, purchased from him by the museum in 1883

Publication History

Pieter Hovens, with contributions by Duane Anderson, Ted Brasser, Laura van Broekhoven et al. "The Ten Kate Collection 1882-1888". Leiden: ZKF Publishers, 2010.

GKS Reference Number: 24388
Approximate Place of Origin

45.00687, -74.65004

Source of Information about Places

Museum documentation

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