wall pocket

wall pocket

wall pocket

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Introduction

Wall pocket made of hide and trimmed with ermine fur. Features floral embroidery. Pocket is lined with pink silk.

Nation of Maker: Cree Maskêkowiyiniwak (Swampy Cree) Mushkegowuk (Western James Bay Cree) Omushkego (Winisk-Swampy Cree) Métis
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

British Museum Catalog Card.

Place of Origin: Ontario or Manitoba, CAN
Date Made or Date Range: 19 C
Materials

Made of fur; ermine, hide; tanned, deer?, silk embroidery thread; green, red, yellow, blue.

Techniques or Format

Pocket is trimmed with ermine fur. Embroidery done using square chain-stitch? The lower portion is embroidered with flowers, including a large blue flower in the centre, and orange and purple flowers below, with green foliage; the top decorated with two sprays of leaves, separated by a purple flower on top; the backside is also embroidered, at the bottom and top edges, with two pairs of foliage sprays, each separated by an orange star shaped flower. At the back is a yellow silk rope for suspension. The pouch is probably sewn with cotton, and the embroidery is probably backed on paper underneath the pink silk lining.

Motifs and Patterns

The floral motifs are asymmetrical.

Dimensions: 6.5 × 12 × 0 cm
Condition: Fair, apart from moth damage to fur.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

British Museum Catalog Record.

Current Location: British Museum, London, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1936 1020.18
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1936
Collection Narratives and Histories

Mrs. F. Kitson

GKS Reference Number: 26865
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Cree/Métis artist, wall pocket. Currently in the British Museum, 1936 1020.18. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 26865.

Record Creation Context

Record created as part of practicum, winter 2009.

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