Ojibwe shirt, beaded, calico

Ojibwe shirt, beaded, calico

Ojibwe shirt, beaded, calico

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Introduction

This shirt is a western style man’s long sleeved collared shirt. The majority of it is made of a dark red calico with a blue printed design. There is beading in three different sections on the shirt: two long strips of rectangular beading attached to the shoulders of the shirt, and a thicker rectangular patch starting at the collarbone and reaching down to around the belly button. At the bottom of each rectangular section of beading are several red felt tassels. The glass beadwork is quite complex but there is a definite pattern to it. Beadwork is done in rows of red or green hearts, and blue and pink stars with a white background with blue ribbon trim. The beaded sections are sewn onto the shirt, but the front panel has buttons that can be undone in order to take the shirt on and off.

Nation of Maker: Algonquin
Nation of Origin

Catalog card

Date Made or Date Range: 1890
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Based on both museum documentation as well as individually conducted research

Materials

Glass beads, calico, buttons, felt tassels, silk ribbon

Techniques or Format

Calico part of shirt was manufactured. Beading was probably woven on a loom.

Motifs and Patterns

The Four Direction symbol used in repetition along with another geometric motif similar to a heart

Dimensions: 0 × 0 × 0 mm
Condition: Good, missing a few beads
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

Found in Pomona College archive catalogue. Also Ojibwe shirts with similar style and symbols have been found and were documented as made around the same time.

Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: grasac_3751
Link to Institution's Collections Database: www.pomona.edu
Who the Institution Acquired the Relative or Heritage Item From: The Engle Family
GKS Reference Number: 1480
Approximate Place of Origin

46.869279102, -71.347896113

Source of Information about Places

Catalog card attributes item to Ojibwe culture of Great Lakes