Inscribed on front of bag in a beaded panel: BASIN.DASIN
Shoulder Bag, ca. 1850
- Chippewa, Native American
Wool fabric and yarn, cotton fabric and thread, silk ribbon and tassels, glass beads
- Framed: Overall: 29 × 7 1/8 inches (73.7 × 18.1 cm) Overall (pouch): 10 7/8 × 7 1/8 inches (27.6 × 18.1 cm)
Founders Society Purchase
81.78
On View
- Native American S130
Department
Africa, Oceania & Indigenous Americas
- Floral patterns
- Geometric patterns
- Weaving
- Beading (process)
- Embroidering
- Wool (hair)
- Cotton (fiber)
- Ribbon
- Thread
- Fringe
- Tassel
- Tassel
- Cotton (textile)
- Silk (textile)
- Wool (textile)
- Yarn
- Glass
- Beadwork
- Text
- Shoulder bag
- Bandolier bag
- Michigan
Details
Creating and wearing articles of dress and formal clothing is an important means of cultural expression among Native American people. This elaborately decorated pouch, with a broad shoulder strap, was worn as part of an ensemble for ceremonial and social events. The method of double-weft bead weaving, requiring the use of a box loom, quickly became the most popular technique employed throughout the Great Lakes and is still used today.
Signed, Marks, Inscriptions
Provenance
(Forrest Fenn, Fenn Galleries, Sante Fe, New Mexico, USA); 1975, purchased by Richard A. Pohrt [1911-2005] (Flint, Michigan, USA); 1981-present, purchased 1981 by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Published References
Penney, David W. Art of the American Indian Frontier: The Chandler-Pohrt Collection. Seattle and London, 1992, cat. no. 38. Whiteford, A. H. "The Origins of Great Lakes Beaded Bandolier Bags." American Indian Art 11, no. 3 (Summer 1986): 35, fig. 4, (col. ill.).
Rights Status
Chippewa, Native American, Shoulder Bag, ca. 1850, wool fabric and yarn, cotton fabric and thread, silk ribbon and tassels, glass beads. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, 81.78.