chatelaine bag

chatelaine bag

chatelaine bag

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Introduction

This beaded Hodenosaunee chatelaine bag has two straps made of loom woven beadwork into which are woven letters and numbers. It was likely made between 1860 and 1880. In 1992, Marshall Joseph Becker gifted this bag to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology where it currently resides.

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

The bag is attributed to the Hodenosaunee based on the beadwork style.

Date Made or Date Range: 1860-1880
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation and the GRASAC research team.

Materials

brown velvet; red cotton tape; natural cotton; size 11 or 12 glass beads in opaque white, light and medium blue, yellow, red, and translucent mustard, green, and clear; metal sequins; smaller (size 14 or 16) glass beads in lavender, white, violet, yellow, black, blue, red; paper; beige thread.

Techniques or Format

This bag is made with velvet pieces lined with cotton, sewn together and edged with red cotton tape. The flaps on both sides are also lined with cotton, decorated with single bead picot edging. Both sides of the bag, as well as the flaps, are decorated with appliqued beadwork over top of paper patterns. A strip of woven beadwork has been sewn to the top of the bag, with the loose parts on both sides acting as handles.

Motifs and Patterns

Floral beadwork decorates the bag. Letters, numbers and shapes are woven into the strip of beadwork.

Original and Subsequent Uses

This type of beaded Chatelaine bag was often made by the Hodenosaunee to sell to Victorian tourists in the Niagara region. Chatelaine refers to a formal waist bag popular among 19th century women.

Dimensions: 15.4 × 17.8 × 0 cm
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

The date attribution is based on the style of beadwork.

Current Location: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 92-12-4
Link to Institution's Collections Database: https://www.penn.museum/collections/object/70580
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1992
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: Marshall Joseph Becker
Collection Narratives and Histories

This bag was given to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology by Marshall Joseph Becker in 1992.

GKS Reference Number: 85
How to Cite this Item

Maker, Name unrecorded. Chatelaine bag. GRASAC ID 85. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 92-12-4

Record Creation Context

GRASAC research visit by David Penney, Ruth Phillips, Stacey Loyer, William Wierzbowski, December 3, 2009
This record was augmented by Joy Kruse on July 5th, 2024.

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