Skip to main content
Collections Menu
Moccasins
Moccasins

Moccasins

Datec. 1820
DimensionsOverall: 3 × 3 1/2 × 9 1/2 in. (7.6 × 8.9 × 24.1 cm)
Object numberT0037a-b
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThe high cost of imported silk forced Ursuline nuns in colonial Quebec adopted the use of dyed moosehair from Native peoples in that region for their embroidery work. (c.f. Hodge 1973, pp. 12-13, fig.31-36; Dockstader 1966, cat.no. 247; Turner 1955, frontispiece; p. 76; Thompson 1977, pp. 141-142, fig.59, cat. no. 86). In return, the nuns taught the Native women European embroidery techniques and floral patterns. Replacing the old geometric patterns these floral designs undoubtedly catered to romantic European stereotypes of Indigenous peoples as living in an arcadian paradise. In the decoration of moccasins with floral hair embroidery, the Wendat (Huron) women replaced the old type of front-seam moccasins by a northern type that has a vamp inserted into the front. The production of these gorgeously decorated moccasins became an important source of income for the Hurons in the early 19th century. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"American Treasures from the Fenimore Art Museum," Society of the Four Arts, Palm Beach, FL, February 20 – April 11, 2004.

"Aboriginal Installation Project," National Gallery of Canada, April 26, 2004 - May 1, 2005.
ProvenanceG. Moore; James Hooper Collection, Sussex, England; Christie's, London, England 1992
BibliographyPhelps, Steven. Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa, and the Americas: The James Hooper Collection. London: Hutchison of London, 1976, p. 345, pl. 205, cat. no. 1632; description p.448.

Christie's. (London) 23 June 1992, Sale 4789, lot 129.

Vincent, Gilbert T. Masterpieces of American Indian Art. New York: Harry Abrams, 1995, p.24.

Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.61.

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. 44.
On View
On view
Moccasin
Wendat (Huron)
c. 1838
Moccasins
Mi'kmaq (Micmac)
c. 1840
Canoe Model
Mary Kooyik (Mani Kueyik)
1847-1854
Jacket
Swampy Cree
c. 1800
Vest
Metis-Lakota (Teton Sioux)
c. 1880
Moccasins
Lakota (Teton Sioux)
1890-1910
Cases
Kiowa
1860-1870
Shot Pouch
Anishinaabe (Red River Ojibwa)
c. 1830
Forehead Mask
Coast Tsimshian or Tlingit
1840-1870
Pouch
Lenape (Delaware)
1795-1820
Moccasin
Tsitsistas/Suhtai (Cheyenne)
c. 1880-1900

5798 STATE HIGHWAY 80
COOPERSTOWN NY, 13326
607-547-1400

close

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required