AN EXCEPTIONAL WOODLANDS QUILLED BUCKSKIN POUCH

Details

AN EXCEPTIONAL WOODLANDS QUILLED BUCKSKIN POUCH
Of square form, stitched finely in red, blue, orange and cream quillwork against a dark brown-black walnut-dyed buckskin ground, the pouch with two linear bands enclosing a zig zag motif and circular designs surmounted by another zig zag motif, surmounted by a horizontal linear plaited band, the flap decorated with a crescent design and two curvilinear motifs, bordered by another zig zag pattern, the bottom of the flap with remaining white bead pendants inset with red dyed hair, trimmed along seams with a quillwork braid, a double braided strap attached at top corners
20in. (52.7cm.) long

Provenance

Lots 32, 33 and 34 were presented to the consignor's grandmother in 1909 by a Yorkshire minister who had been active as a missionary for the Northeastern Indians during the latter part of the nineteenth century.

Lot Essay

This example compares to a number of figurative and geometrically ornamented pouches that are attributed to the Ojibwa or the Ottawa and dated to about 1780-1800, see Speyer, 1968, cat. 112, pl. 43 and King, 1982, p. 65, pl. 71 lower left. The blue and red dyes are particularly well preserved.

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