Dyed and smoked moosehide; porcupine quill, red/orange, white, ivory; sinew.

The heal seam goes up the back, covered with a panel of zigzag, with a line of oversewn white quill bordering it. It is not a T seam, it is one seam straight down which is then open at either side in a little loop. Edging: a piece of thong is wrapped with quill to form an edge around the top of the moccasins.

It is constructed with a central seam down the front of the foot, which gathers over the toe in a kind of drawstring technique.

There is a string of hide that is attached with quill on the front of the cuffs. Possibly a tie.

Row of unfolding spirals on either side of the heel seam.Circles filled with spirals in oversewn quill on the sides.

These moccasins are from the collection of the Bibliothèque nationale de France, which dates from before 1792. Based on materials and style, Autumn Epple suggests they date between 1700 and 1750.

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.

Unknown artist, moccasins. Currently in the Musée du quai Branly, 71.1878.32.138. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip; GRASAC item id 1384.

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

deStecher, Annette. Engaged Histories: Wendat Women’s Souvenir Artsof Cultural Preservation and Entrepreneurial Invention. PhD dissertation. Ottawa: Carleton University, 2013.

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