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brooch, trade silver
brooch, trade silver
brooch, trade silver
Haudenosaunee silver “council square brooch”, in square or equal armed cross shape, with open centre and perforated pattern around. Scalloped edging, and engraved circle and line motifs found at the end of each “arm”. Dr. Oronhyatekha Ethnology collection.
This Masonic-type brooch design may have been introduced by Joseph Brant, who in 1775 became a member of the Masonic Order in London. The Haudenosaunee adopted the Masonic emblem of the compass and square to represent the “Council Fire”, a meeting of chiefs.
Source: N. Jaye Fredrickson and Sandra Gibb, The Covenant Chain: Indian Ceremonial and Trade Silver (Ottawa: National Museums of Canada, 1980), p 52-53
GRASAC generated
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Silver
Perforated and engraved silver. Hinged pin attached for fastening.
Equal armed cross, square within a square, scalloped edge, and circle motifs.
Provenance
F. Barlow Cumberland, Catalogue and Notes of the Oronhyatekha Historical Collection (Toronto: Independent Order of Foresters, 1904), p 64, Item 401. "Silver buckle, perforated pattern."
About This GRASAC Record
Unknown artist, brooch, trade silver. Currently in the Royal Ontario Museum, 911.3.201. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2008; GRASAC item id 26107.
Record created as a result of a GRASAC-sponsored research trip to the Royal Ontario Museum, December 15-19, 2008. Research costs supported by a SSHRC Aboriginal Research Grant (2007-2010, Ruth Phillips, PI). Record created during post-trip clean up by project RA Lisa Truong, under the supervision of Heidi Bohaker.