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The production of these souvenirs had become an important source of cash, enabling the Native people to survive in a rapidly changing world. Most of the Elgin examples seem to have came from the Parry Sound region on Georgian Bay.
In preparing for this type of quillwork, the birchbark is kept warm and damp. Perforations are made in the bark, following a design drawn on it. The quill is immediately inserted and the contracting bark will hold it tightly in place. After the design is completed, the protruding quill ends on the reverse side of the bark are clipped off and usually covered with a thin piece of bark for a neat finish. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Art of This Land," National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 1, 2009 - April 1, 2011.
ProvenanceBelieved to have been given as a presentation piece to James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, governor-general of Canada, during his residency 1847-1853; descended in the Elgin family to the 11th Earl of Elgin and the 15th Earl of Kincardine, Dunfermline, Scotland
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.69.
Phillips, Ruth B. "Quilled Bark from the Central Great Lakes: A Transcultural History." In Studies in American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Austria/Seattle: Adolf Holzhausens Nachfolger/ University of Washington Press, 2000, pp.122-123.
Phillips, Ruth B. Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998, p. 298.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 73.
Culture
Anishinaabe (eastern Ojibwa)
Birch Bark Box
Date1847-1854
DimensionsOverall (Includes Handle): 5 1/4 × 4 3/8 × 6 1/2 in. (13.3 × 11.1 × 16.5 cm)
Object numberT0022a-b
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextStarting in the early 1800s, birchbark souvenirs decorated with colored porcupine quills were being produced in several Ottawa and Ojibwa settlements around Georgian Bay, Manitoulin Island, and even Northern Michigan. (c.f. Skinner 1921, pl.LXXIX-C; Hodge, 1973, p.83, fig.374; McCord Museum of Canadian History cat. no. M-2126; Graham 1983, p.33, fig.17). The production of these souvenirs had become an important source of cash, enabling the Native people to survive in a rapidly changing world. Most of the Elgin examples seem to have came from the Parry Sound region on Georgian Bay.
In preparing for this type of quillwork, the birchbark is kept warm and damp. Perforations are made in the bark, following a design drawn on it. The quill is immediately inserted and the contracting bark will hold it tightly in place. After the design is completed, the protruding quill ends on the reverse side of the bark are clipped off and usually covered with a thin piece of bark for a neat finish. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"Art of This Land," National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, February 1, 2009 - April 1, 2011.
ProvenanceBelieved to have been given as a presentation piece to James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, governor-general of Canada, during his residency 1847-1853; descended in the Elgin family to the 11th Earl of Elgin and the 15th Earl of Kincardine, Dunfermline, Scotland
BibliographyVincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.69.
Phillips, Ruth B. "Quilled Bark from the Central Great Lakes: A Transcultural History." In Studies in American Indian Art: A Memorial Tribute to Norman Feder. Austria/Seattle: Adolf Holzhausens Nachfolger/ University of Washington Press, 2000, pp.122-123.
Phillips, Ruth B. Trading Identities: The Souvenir in Native North American Art from the Northeast, 1700-1900. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998, p. 298.
Fognell, Eva and Alexander Brier Marr, eds. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection at the Fenimore Art Museum, 2nd ed. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2016, p. 73.
On View
On view
