Materials

Unsmoked deer skin, porcupine quills, tin cones, blue yarn (?), silk ribbon; possibly birch bark inside to maintain integrity; tufting on cones in bottom appears to be moosehair

Techniques or Format

Sheath made of two pieces of hide inserted to stiffen it

Motifs and Patterns

Quill work pattern unusual -- in triangular motifs

Other Notes

ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS: use of silk ribbon suggests it might have been either made for sale in curio trade or as part of a formal outfit or substitute for a hide/quilled strap that had been there earlier; blue yarn in tin cones seems to have been cut off intentionally ; JGS written on back, perhaps it was a personal item that was given to him or perhaps marking his collection

DIMENSIONS
Total Length: 50 cm; Sheath 20.3 cm; Sheath (no tassels) 17.5

Condition: Silk strap very frayed

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

Johann Georg Schwarz collected this item, possibly when he traveled to Detroit and through Upper Canada in the winter of 1820-1821.

Current Location: Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 11965

Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: Johann Georg Schwarz traveled to Detroit and through Upper Canada in the winter of 1820-1821.

GKS Reference Number: 45146

How to Cite this Item

Unknown Indigenous artist, knife sheath. Currently in the Weltmuseum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 11965. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip January 2016; GRASAC item id 45146.

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).

Record Creation Notes/Observations

Created using spreadsheet with information made by Ruth Phillips, Lisa Truong, Naomi Recollet (Anishinaabe (Odawa/Ojibwe), Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory) and Wahsontiio Cross (Mohawk, Kahnawake).