cradleboard model

cradleboard model

cradleboard model

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Introduction

Cradleboard model made of cotton cloth, ribbon, and a hoop. The top and bottom edges of hoop and ornamentation have burned colouring, and the wrapping cloth is not made of one continuous piece. On the back, there are nails and thongs holding strips of cloth in place. Collected by Martin Pitzer, this item is currently housed at the Weltmuseum Wien in Vienna, Austria.

Name of Maker(s): Unknown Odawa artist
Nation of Maker: Odawa
Nation of Origin

In Martin Pitzer's "Index of Objects and Woks of an American Indian Tribe in the Far North, Together With a Description of the Same," he writes that the items in this book are from "the north ‐ eastern part of North America, and is called the tribe of the Otawahs, or Ottawas" (35).

Date Made or Date Range: Before 1854
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

GRASAC research notes created during an onsite visit to Weltmuseum in January of 2016.

Materials

Cotton cloth wrapper, ribbon, nails, thongs, and a hoop.

Techniques or Format

Orange pattern cloth is wrapped around; on the back there are nails nailing the horizontal strip in the back, bottom piece in the back is also held with nails and thongs; this must have been made for display as the wrapping elements have been nailed to the backside at a later time possibly for display; label on the back might have been cut from catalogue.

Dimensions: 38 × 17 × 21 cm
Condition: Good
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Martin Pitzer collected this item when he travelled to the Great Lakes region in the 1850s.

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 131792
Collection at Current Location: Martin Pitzer Collection
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 1850s
Previous Collectors: Martin Pitzer
Collection Narratives and Histories

Austrian church painter Martin Pitzer travelled to the Great Lakes region, to "the Ottawa villages of Arbre Croche and Cross Village" in the early 1850s. He collected a significant number of items and brought them back to Austria to be part of an exhibition to raise money for the mission.

GKS Reference Number: 59063
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Odawa artist, cradleboard model. Currently in the Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 131792. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip January 2016; GRASAC item id 59063.

Record Creation Context

In January of 2016, a small team of GRASAC researchers visited the collection to study and photograph it: Ruth Phillips, Lisa Truong, Naomi Recollet (Anishinaabe (Odawa/Ojibwe), Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory) and Wahsontiio Cross (Mohawk, Kahnawake). This GKS record was created in January of 2022 by GRASAC RA Aidan Mitchell-Boudreau.

Approximate Place of Origin

43.6, -71.9

Source of Information about Places

In Martin Pitzer's "Index of Objects and Woks of an American Indian Tribe in the Far North, Together With a Description of the Same," he writes that the items in this book are from "the north ‐ eastern part of North America, and is called the tribe of the Otawahs, or Ottawas" (35).