Materials

Smoked, dyed black moosehide; porcupine quill, orange/red, black, white;tendon; metal cones.

Techniques or Format

It is made of two pieces sewn together around the edges, with an opening at the top for a knife.The edges are bound with wrapped quill work.The edges are then bordered with three lines of oversewn stitch quill work.

There are two bands of quill work in zigzag band and groups of lines of oversewn stitches.

There are three cones attached by hide wrapped with quill, two cones are missing.

On the back there are little tabs which suggest the sheath was made to be hung around the neck.

Repairs have been done.

Dimensions: 17.5 × 5.5 × 0 cm

Condition: Fair. Well worn, but most of quill work remains. The back shows considerable signs of wear.

Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

The material in the Bibliothèque Nationale du France was collected before 1792. Autumn Epple suggests based on the style and materials that the object dates from 1700 to 1760.

Current Location: Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris, France

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 71.1878.32.70

Link to Institution's Collections Database: www.quaibranly.fr

Collection Narratives and Histories

The North American Indigenous works from the Bibliothèque Nationale du France are now located in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. These works were brought together in this collection at the time of the French Revolution, around 1792. Many of these works came from the Jardin du Roi, the collection of the French kings, also known as the Royal collection. In 1792, inventories were made of the possessions of aristocratic French families in Paris and the provinces and many objects were selected to be added to the Bibliothèque Nationale, which was the national collection of the new Republic. Ethnographic material from the Bibliothèque Nationale was located at the Musée d'ethnographie du Trocadéro, then the Musée de l’Homme, and is now in the Musée du quai Branly.A.deS.

Related language items in the GKS: biindkomaan

GKS Reference Number: 1420

How to Cite this Item

Unknown artist, knife sheath. Currently in the Musée du quai Branly, 71.1878.32.70. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip; GRASAC item id 1420.

Record Creation Context

This record was created by Anne de Stecher during an RAship for Prof. Ruth Phillips.

Research for the record was carried out by Anne de Stecher during her thesis studies.