Are there any bags like this that actually do have a pocket?
Yes, making them practical as well as decorative. Similarly formed bags are still made today. Since this doesn't have a pocket, it would've been worn as a decorative sash that goes across the shoulders and
over the chest.
What was the process that Native Americans used to make these tiny glass beads?
Actually, the woman who made this piece did not make the beads herself; she acquired them through trade or purchase.
This piece was made in the 20th century. Initially, the imported glass beads Native American women used for such works were of Venetian manufacture, but by the early 19th century Bohemian glass beads, with their brighter colors and glossy finish, were imported.
Thank you!
You're welcome! My favorite part is how the artist uses both loom techniques for the bottom fringe and shows off her skills at geometric designs while doing the applique stitches on the body of the bag for the large areas of curving designs. The result is so beautiful!
Yes, I love the details in the small squares!
Some scholars have suggested that the symmetrical 4-leaf pattern on such beaded items is a cosmological reference on the part of the bead artist to reference to the 4 cardinal/sacred directions; and the four-directions motif is definitely mirrored in all the tassels.
I would like to know more about this beaded bag, please!
This fringed bandolier bag with floral design would have been worn as a decorative sash across the shoulders and over the chest. The shape of this bag is based on 18th century ammunition cartridge bags carried by European soldiers. Although they used a European form and base material (such as wool or cotton), the surfaces of these bags would be the canvas for densely beaded designs with indigenous meanings.
Is beadwork an art form practiced more by men or women?
Bags like these, while worn by men, were created and beaded by women artists. The artist actually used two beading techniques to execute the design on this bag. Spot stitching for the maple leaf and floral designs on the main body and loom beading for the fringe.
How are the beads made in these pieces?
Those are glass beads which were introduced by European presence in the Americas and subsequent colonization.
These beads were likely of Venetian manufacture where molten glass was gathered on the end of a long iron rod. After a bubble was incorporated in the center, a second rod was attached stretching the glass, along with its internal bubble, into a long cane. The drawn tube was then chopped into individual bead slices. the resulting beads were cooked or rolled in hot sand to round the edges.
Ok, thanks!
