Materials

Black dyed, smoked hide; porcupine quill,red, gold-orange, white, black; cotton thread, repairs.

Techniques or Format

Center seam with one band of zigzag quill work over the seam. Heel seam is also covered with a band of zigzag quill work. The heel seam ends with two folds, one on each side of the seam. Not a T seam.

A wavy line of oversewn quill is on either side of the heel band of zigzag.

Motifs and Patterns

Two motifs outlined in oversewn quill on the sides of the moccasins are similar to the pattern on a print cotton dress worn by a doll from the collection of Raphael Bischoffsheim, 71.1878.33.11. The doll, with a trade silver medallion, is probably from a later date than the moccasins, which leaves an interesting question about the similarity of the motifs.

The geometric motifs on the band at the top of the moccasins are similar to the motifs on ceramic vessels made by the Huron-Wendat in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Other Notes

An unusual feature of these moccasins is that like several other pairs in this collection, the two moccasins are not the same size, one is noticeably bigger.

Dimensions: 19 × 0 × 18.5 cm

Condition: Poor. They are very brittle and fragile, very flat.Quite a bit of quill work is missing and there are a number of repaired tears in the hide.

Pieces of the soles of the moccasins have been cut out.

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

Material in the Bibliothèque Nationale du France was collected before 1792.

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

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 71.1878.32.265.1-2

Collection Narratives and Histories

The ethnographic works from the Bibliothèque Nationale du France are located in the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. These ethnographic 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. 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.

GKS Reference Number: 1392

Record Creation Context

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

Copyright

This record will be open access on the completion of Anne de Stecher's dissertation, 2011.