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In the identification of this bag's origin, it is important to notice the remarkable conformity in all details and the rapidly increasing numbers of such bags after 1800. These observations strongly suggest a growing popularity and corresponding production. Neither descriptions nor pictures ever associate these panel bags with tribal people. All snippets of evidence indicate that they were made by half-breed or Metis and used by themselves as well as by other employees in the fur trade. A steady flow of Ojibwa-Metis people from the Great Lakes to the west had started after 1760. Concentrating in the Red River region, their numbers rapidly increased to the point that intermarriage among themselves became the rule and marriage with Indian women the exception. This situation justifies the identification of their art work as Metis instead of Ojibwa or Cree. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
"Treasures from the Thaw Collection," Wheelwright Museum of American Indian Art. Santa Fe, NM, May 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000.
ProvenanceCollected between 1800 and 1809 by Dudley Ryder (1762-1847), the first Earl of Harrowby; Staffordshire, England; descended in the Harrowby family; Sotheby's New York City,1992, lot 91
BibliographySotheby's. 12 November 1992, Sale 6361, lot 91.
Sotheby's Art at Auction 1992-93. London/New York: Conran Octopus Limited/Rizzoli, 1993, p.177.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.169.
Perriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy editions d'Art, 1999, p. 71, fig. 57.
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. 188.
Culture
Red River Metis
Panel Bag
Datec. 1800
DimensionsOverall (Includes Fringe): 23 3/4 × 12 1/2 in. (60.3 × 31.8 cm)
Object numberT0090
Credit LineGift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw
Photograph by John Bigelow Taylor, NYC
Label TextThis panel bag is probably not more than one generation removed from the earliest example of this type (c.f. fig. XX T89). Red tradecloth and silk applique‚ have replaced skin and its painting, but the woven pony bead panel has remained basically the same composition of rectangles and triangles. The silk applique‚ is still very simple and comparable to a panel bag acquired by Jasper Grant before 1809, now in the National Museum of Ireland (c.f. Phillips 1984, p.62, fig.14). Another similarity of these two bags is the common use of oval necklace beads in the fringe and thin tassels of mixed red and yellow yarn.In the identification of this bag's origin, it is important to notice the remarkable conformity in all details and the rapidly increasing numbers of such bags after 1800. These observations strongly suggest a growing popularity and corresponding production. Neither descriptions nor pictures ever associate these panel bags with tribal people. All snippets of evidence indicate that they were made by half-breed or Metis and used by themselves as well as by other employees in the fur trade. A steady flow of Ojibwa-Metis people from the Great Lakes to the west had started after 1760. Concentrating in the Red River region, their numbers rapidly increased to the point that intermarriage among themselves became the rule and marriage with Indian women the exception. This situation justifies the identification of their art work as Metis instead of Ojibwa or Cree. (From the Catalog of the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art, 2nd ed.)
Exhibition History"The 45th Annual Winter Antique Show," New York, NY, January 12, 1999 – January 25, 1999.
"Art Des Indiens D'Amerique Du Nord Dans La Collection D'Eugene Thaw," Mona Bismarck Foundation, Paris, France, Somogy Editions D'Art, January 21, 2000 - March 18, 2000.
"Treasures from the Thaw Collection," Wheelwright Museum of American Indian Art. Santa Fe, NM, May 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000.
ProvenanceCollected between 1800 and 1809 by Dudley Ryder (1762-1847), the first Earl of Harrowby; Staffordshire, England; descended in the Harrowby family; Sotheby's New York City,1992, lot 91
BibliographySotheby's. 12 November 1992, Sale 6361, lot 91.
Sotheby's Art at Auction 1992-93. London/New York: Conran Octopus Limited/Rizzoli, 1993, p.177.
Vincent, Gilbert et al. Art of the North American Indians: The Thaw Collection. Cooperstown, New York: Fenimore Art Museum, 2000, p.169.
Perriot, Francoise, and Slim Batteux, trans. Arts des Indiens d'Amerique du Nord: Dans la Collection d'Eugene et Clare Thaw. Paris, somogy editions d'Art, 1999, p. 71, fig. 57.
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. 188.
On View
On view
