handle of a fan

handle of a fan

handle of a fan

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Introduction

Handle of a fan made of birchbark, porcupine quills, pink ribbon, fine thread for attaching the ribbon, black thread, and remnants of glue where feathers would have been. The two pieces of quilled birchbark are edged with ribbon and sewn together with fine cotton thread. There is a different floral motif on each side. 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

Birchbark, porcupine quills, pink ribbon, finer thread for attaching the ribbon; black thread; remnants of glue where feathers would have been.

Techniques or Format

Two pieces of quilled birch bark edged with ribbon separately and then sewn together with fine cotton thread; according to Naomi Recollet during an assessment during a GRASAC visit to the Weltmuseum Wien, the glue on the top/interior is where feathers would have been; looks like it was sewn shut with blue/black thicker thread along top.

Motifs and Patterns

Floral, different on either side.

Other Notes

Punctured holes just below the max width.

Dimensions: 19 × 12 × 0 cm
Condition: Fair/good (some quills missing, ribbon on top edge missing).
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: 131768
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: 59062
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Odawa artist, handle of a fan. Currently in the Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 131768. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip January 2016; GRASAC item id 59062.

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).