Dublin Core
Title
Birch Bark Box
Object
container
Culture
Ojibwe
Brief Description
Round lidded birch bark box with dense quillwork depicting a fox on the lid, geometric design on side.
Description
Round lidded birch bark box with dense quillwork depicting a fox on the lid, geometric design on side.
1. Form: The lid quillwork is comprised of a 2.5-inch circle surround by a patterned band. Within the circle is the image of a red fox sitting on its hind legs on a patch of earth. The fox has yellow dots for eyes and a red open mouth. Its body is orange, with white along the underside of the body and end of the tail, and brown legs. Around the fox are neat rows of white quills. The outer lid band, bordered by 2 rings of white quills contains a repeating pattern of 5 vertical quills lined up and branched together in the middle by a matching horizontal band. Between these are asterisk/diamonds of overlapping quills. Most are white, but the 5 along the top and bottom are green/brown, orange, B/B, O, B/B. The sides of the box are in 2 bands (top and bottom) which follow the exact same pattern. Sweet grass is bound around the top and bottom of both lid and base, as well as around the middle where they meet, by black stitching. Bark lines the inside to hide the quill ends.
2. Material and Color:
Birch bark - light-medium brown (R216 G168 B105) to (R176 G117 B36)
Sweet grass - faded yellow (R238 G219 B168)
Cotton thread - black
Quills - white, orange (R218 G124 B67, but brighter), red (R181 G26 B58), yellow (R255 G246 B138), brown (R146 G70 B26), green-brown (close to R143 G140 B102 but browner)
3. Construction: Bark was cut, bent, and stitched into shape.
4. Decoration: Quillwork decorates the lid and sides and sweet grass is wrapped around the edges.
5. Skill/Care: Very well made, skillful work.
6. Condition: Very good. Negligible wear, label on the bottom.
1. Form: The lid quillwork is comprised of a 2.5-inch circle surround by a patterned band. Within the circle is the image of a red fox sitting on its hind legs on a patch of earth. The fox has yellow dots for eyes and a red open mouth. Its body is orange, with white along the underside of the body and end of the tail, and brown legs. Around the fox are neat rows of white quills. The outer lid band, bordered by 2 rings of white quills contains a repeating pattern of 5 vertical quills lined up and branched together in the middle by a matching horizontal band. Between these are asterisk/diamonds of overlapping quills. Most are white, but the 5 along the top and bottom are green/brown, orange, B/B, O, B/B. The sides of the box are in 2 bands (top and bottom) which follow the exact same pattern. Sweet grass is bound around the top and bottom of both lid and base, as well as around the middle where they meet, by black stitching. Bark lines the inside to hide the quill ends.
2. Material and Color:
Birch bark - light-medium brown (R216 G168 B105) to (R176 G117 B36)
Sweet grass - faded yellow (R238 G219 B168)
Cotton thread - black
Quills - white, orange (R218 G124 B67, but brighter), red (R181 G26 B58), yellow (R255 G246 B138), brown (R146 G70 B26), green-brown (close to R143 G140 B102 but browner)
3. Construction: Bark was cut, bent, and stitched into shape.
4. Decoration: Quillwork decorates the lid and sides and sweet grass is wrapped around the edges.
5. Skill/Care: Very well made, skillful work.
6. Condition: Very good. Negligible wear, label on the bottom.
Dimension 1
4" W
Dimension 2
4" D
Dimension 3
2.75" H
Material
bark(birch) fiber(sweet grass) cotton quill(porcupine)
Construction
cut bent stitched
Decoration
quillwork wrapped(fiber)
Condition
V GOOD lbl
Source
Ostrom, Elinor -bequest
Collector
Ostrom, Elinor and Vincent
Accession Number
MM249.106
Old Number
MM249.106 CAC#LS-19 OC#210
Type
artifact
State
Ontario
Country
Canada
Continent
North America
Provenance
This item is from the collections of the Mathers Museum of World Cultures.