A PLAINS BEADED CLOTH OCTOPUS BAG

UPPER MISSOURI/METIS

細節

A PLAINS BEADED CLOTH OCTOPUS BAG
UPPER MISSOURI/METIS
Of classic form, thread sewn in white, pink, yellow, three shades of blue, green and translucent red, green and pink glass seed beads against a blue wool ground, red silk and large red incised beads below with remnants of red wool, decorated on both sides with an elaborate floral motif
18 x 8½in. (45.7 x 21.5cm.)

來源

Collected by Father Pierre-Jean De Smet and gifted to the ancestors of the current owners.

拍品專文

After circa 1840, bags of this type became popular from southern Manitoba and the upper Missouri River as far west as the Columbia River and southern Alaska. Most of them were produced in local Metis communites. They became an indispensable part in the outfit of fur traders and trappers, who referred to these pouches as "fire bags," to hold their pipe, tobacco, and ingredients to light a fire. This example is very similar to a bag acquired on the Missouri river in 1848, presently in the collections of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis (Cat. 1948 056001).

Ted Brasser March 14, 2000