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Pouch, belt
Pouch, belt
Pouch, belt
This relative, a belt pouch, is composed of deer hide with a front panel of hemp and moosehair false embroidery back with printed cotton cloth. Embroidery includes orange, white, and black colouring which forms a geometric print in the form of hourglasses or chevrons. At each end of the pouch are tassels of red dyed deer hair and tin cones, while at the top and bottom of the pouch are decorated with white pony beads. The opening of the pouch is lined with green silk ribbon. This pouch was collected by British Army officer Jasper Grant between 1800 and 1809. The origin of this relative is associated with the Great Lakes region, probably Huron-Wendat or Hodenosaunee/Haudenosaunee.
This relative currently resides at the National Museum of Ireland.
Read More About This Relative
deer hide back, hemp and moosehair false embroidery top panel backed with printed cotton cloth (orange, white and black geometric print) red dyed deerhair, green silk ribbon, tin cones, white pony beads
hourglasses, chevrons
Notes from Ruth Phillips's Patterns of Power (1984): Although false embroidery worked in moosehair is most closely identified with eastern Great Lakes peoples such as the Iroquois, the geometric motifs on this rare moosehair embroidered belt pouch are more typical of the central Great Lakes peoples. The pouch would have been folded over the belt so that the two contrasted design areas formed front and back surfaces when worn.
Period of Grant's service in Canada
Provenance
Jasper Grant (1762-1812), Anglo-Irish officer who spent 9 years in Canada between 1800-1809. Served as commandant of Fort George in the Niagara Peninsula and of Fort Malden at Amherstburg opposite Detroit. It is likely that his wife, Isabella Grant, played a significant role in the collection of items given her close relationship to Madeline Askin Richardson, the daughter of a prominent fur trader and merchant with extensive ties to the surrounding Indigenous communities.
GRASAC research notes.
In 1984-1985 the Jasper Grant Collection was featured in a special travelling exhibition for the Ontario bicentennial, which was organized by the McMichael Canadian Collection and entitled "Patterns of Power."
Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: McMichael Canadian Collection, 1984.
Philips, Ruth B. (1986-87). “Jasper Grant and Edward Walsh: the Gentleman-Soldier as Early Collector of Great Lakes Indian Art.” Journal of Canadian Studies 21(4): 56-71.
About This GRASAC Record
Maker, Name unknown. Belt pouch. GRASAC ID: 25953. National Museum of Ireland, 1902.321.
This record was augmented by Dana Murray on October 1, 2024. It draws on information and images collected during a GRASAC research trip to the National Museum of Ireland on July 21, 2010. Participants included Alan Corbiere, Crystal Migwans, Bhenens Corbiere, Nikolaus Stolle, Rachel Hand, Ruth Phillips who were assisted by Padraig Clancy
42.107, -83.1132
This information was informed by the following resource: Phillips, Ruth. Patterns of Power. Kleinburg, On.: Patterns of Power, 1984. Fort Walden is identified on the map as a possible origin for this relative, but this reflects only one place where the relative may have lived. It is not a known place of origin; it is only one location associated with where the collector, Jasper Grant, served in the British Army.