Knowledge Sharing Platform
sheath, double with two tools
sheath, double with two tools
sheath, double with two tools
A blackened hide double sheath decorated with porcupine quillwork, with two wooden tools. Probably Anishinaabe. Collected by G.C. Beltrami in Wisconsin in 1823. Around 1856, Beltrami's nephew donated several objects, including this one, to the Civic Library of Bergamo. Later the collection was transferred to the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali, its current location.
Anishinaabe communities lived around the Upper Mississippi during the mid 19th century, when this object was collected.
Based on museum documentation
Read More About This Relative
blackened hide; porcupine quills, dyed black, blue and red; wood; sinew; leather thong.
The hide is decorated with quillwork. A leather thong hangs from the bottom of the sheath. There is a hole at the centre top, above the two sheaths. Two tools accompany the sheath, both of which have a section wrapped with string or sinew.
Zig zags, chained diamonds with circles in the centre of each.
Vigorelli in his catalogue wrote:" L''uso a cui questi utensili erano destinati non e'' stato individuato con certezza. Presumibilmente servivano per dividere ed acconcire i capelli (to style hair)". (p.64)
Provenance
Collected by G.C. Beltrami from Wisconsin in 1823. Beltrami's collection catalogue states that around 1856, Beltrami's nephew donated several objects to the Civic Library of Bergamo, which were later transferred to the Museo Civico di Scienze Naturali.
The Beltrami Collection was exhibited in Florence in 1929 during the "Prima Esposizione Nazionale di Storia delle Scienze" (First National Exposition of History of Sciences"). In 1973, during a celebration of the Beltrami exhibit, Glauco Luchetti donated three objects from his own collection, which were located in Beltrami's last house in Filottrano, to the "Museo Civico E. Caffi". In 1987 the collection was used in the exhibit entitled "Missisippi 1823. Oggetti indiani raccolti da G. Costantino Beltrami" in the Galleria Lorenzelli in Bergamo.
Beltrami s catalogue. Vigorelli, Gli Oggetti indiani raccolti da G.Costantino Beltrami (p.64).
Leonardo Vigorelli, Gli Oggetti indiani raccolti da G.Costantino Beltrami, Civico Museo E. Caffi, Bergamo, 1987.
About This GRASAC Record
This record has been created by Emanuela Rossi after a trip funded by GRASAC to the Museo Civico E. Caffi in Bergamo, Italy in October 2008.
Researcher present: Emanuela Rossi
43.0703, -80.1184
In the Beltrami Collection Catalogue, the author, Leonardo Vigorelli, defines "Upper Mississippi" the Cultural Area of Origin. He defines "Northeast" as the Geographic Area.