Object Record
Images
Additional Images [3]
Metadata
Object ID # |
1961.027.042 |
Object Name |
Box, Trinket |
Title |
Quillworked Birchbark Storage Box |
Lexicon category |
7: Distribution & Transportation Artifact |
Date |
pre-1865 |
Made |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Canada |
Description |
Catharine Brown Sutton (née Sunego)'s quill-worked birchbark box, pre-1865. It may have had something glued onto the top mid area at some point. There is an open storage area inside (no dividers). Bundled sweetgrass and thread decorate the edges. This is a small birchbark box, decorated with porcupine quills. The box has a thread-hinged lid, which is convex in shape. The edges of the lid, and the edges of the walls of the box, are decorated with bundled sweet grass and dark thread. The top has a rectangular pattern scored into it. There are some white quills extant, but the original design has been lost due to quill loss. There might have once been something glued to the mid-section of the top of the lid? The sides of the box each have two horizontal strips of quill work. The pattern is reminiscent of grain stooks. The quills are bundled at the front with white quills, while at the sides and back, they are bundled with an orange / yellow quill. [The Ojibwa used natural dyes to colour their quillwork]. |
Provenance |
The quillwork box belonged to Catharine Brown Sutton (née Sunego), also known as Nahneebahweequay. She was born in the early 1820s and died in 1865 in Sarawak Township, Grey County, Canada West. Her husband was William Sutton. This item was later inherited and kept by Catherine Morgan, a grand-daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Sutton, who was married to Reverend Alfred Morgan and lived at Brantford, Ont. |
Collection |
First Nations, Sutton Collection |
Material |
Bark/Quillwork/Sweetgrass/Thread/Dye |
Dimensions |
H-8 W-15.5 L-1 cm |
Found |
Sarawak Township (formerly), Township of Georgian Bluffs, Grey County |
People |
Sutton, Catharine Sutton, William Sutton, Catherine Morgan, Catherine Morgan, Alfred |
Subjects |
Ojibwa Anishnaabe Quillwork Basket making Baskets Containers |
Search Terms |
Sarawak Township Ojibwa (Anishnaabe, Anishnibeg) |