Birch bark; porcupine quills, natural and dyed russet, yellow, indigo, greenish-black, black and aqua; glazed cotton; glass pony beads, white; cotton thread; silk ribbon, navy.

The wall pocket is in the shape of a long vertical rectangle with a finial at the top, backed with unquilled bark, edged with navy silk ribbon applique, with a border of white glass pony beads in the one-up/one-down pattern. Three pockets of bark lined with pink glazed cotton, and increasing in size - the largest nearest the base, are also bordered with the same silk and beads. The outsides of these pockets are quilled, and they are contiguous. The area from the uppermost edge of the top pocket to the top of the piece, where the bark ground is exposed, is also quilled.

Triangular and rectangular motifs, along with dots and arcs.

Commented by Ruth Holmes Whitehead, March 1985: "Birchbark, porcupine quills, glazed cotton, glass beads, cotton thread, silk ribbon. Wall pocket in the shape of a long vertical rectangle with a finial at the top, backed with unquilled bark, edged with navy ribbon applique, with a boarder of white glass pony beads in the one-up/one-down pattern. Three pockets of bark lined with pink glazed bark, and increasing in size- the largest nearest the base, are also cover with the same silk and beads. The outside of the pockets are quilled, and they are contiguous. The area from the uppermost edge of the top pocket to the top of the piece, where the ground us exposed , is also quills. The quills are dyed russet, yellow, indigo, greenish-black, aqua, and undyed white. The colours are still vivid. The piece is gorgeous."

Donated to the British Museum in 1954 by the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine's Historical Medical Museum.

British Museum, North American Gallery: first peoples, first contact, September 2001.

British Museum object catalogue.

Unknown Mi'kmaq artist, wall pocket. Currently in the British Museum, Am1954,05.932. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip December 2007; GRASAC item id 25046.

This record was created as part of a Great Lakes Research Alliance for the Study of Aboriginal Arts and Cultures (GRASAC) research trip to the Pitt Rivers Museum and British Museum, December 8-22 2007, funded by a grant from the International Opportunities fund of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Researchers present: Heidi Bohaker (HB), John Borrows (JB), Lindsay Borrows (LB), Darlene Johnston (DJ), Stacey Loyer (SL), Janis Monture (JM), Bruce Morito (BM), Ruth Phillips (RP), Cory Willmott (CW).