Cree (Metis). Mittens, early 19th century. Buckskin, porcupine quills, bird quills, glass beads,commercial cloth, rawhide, thread, sinew, 10 x 5 3/4 in. (25.4 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund, 50.67.13a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.50.67.13a-b_view1.jpg)
Cree (Metis). Mittens, early 19th century. Buckskin, porcupine quills, bird quills, glass beads,commercial cloth, rawhide, thread, sinew, 10 x 5 3/4 in. (25.4 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund, 50.67.13a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.50.67.13a-b_view2.jpg)
Mittens
Arts of the Americas
CULTURE
Cree (Metis)
MEDIUM
Buckskin, porcupine quills, bird quills, glass beads,commercial cloth, rawhide, thread, sinew
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS
- Possible place collected: Fort Snelling, Minnesota, United States
- Possible place made: Red River Region, Canada
- Possible place made: Red River Region, United States
DATES
early 19th century
DIMENSIONS
10 x 5 3/4 in. (25.4 x 14.6 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
50.67.13a-b
CREDIT LINE
Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund
PROVENANCE
Prior to 1848, provenance not yet documented; by 1848, acquired by Nathan Sturges Jarvis; 1848, gift of Nathan Sturges Jarvis to the New-York Historical Society, New York, NY; 1937, loaned by the New-York Historical Society to the Brooklyn Museum; 1950, purchased from the New-York Historical Society by the Brooklyn Museum.
Provenance FAQ
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
The backs, thumbs, and cuffs of these mittens are decorated with porcupine quillwork in a delicate curvilinear and geometric design complex that was originally colored bright blue, red, white, and purple. The cuff is decorated with a scalloped quillwork line in red and green and a horizontal border in registers of red, blue and green with white and purple diamonds running through it. On the front of the mitten (the back side of the wearer's hand) is a stylized, four-petal red flower with two secondary tri-lobed flowers, represented by blue outlines and three heart-shaped petals that emerge from the center of the red flower. Four curvilinear green and white lines emerge from the center of this red flower and they in turn terminate in flowers with three-pointed petals of red, blue, and purple. This is referred to as “turning swastika-like cross petals design." On the same side of the mitten, closest to where the thumb is on the reverse, is a quilled strip of red and purple diamonds, bordered in white and placed on a band-like field of blue and red. On the thumb itself is a pattern of three flowers combined, a red one at the center and a blue and white one on each side. This motif is placed above a four-lobed linear representation of a red flower, very similar to the large one on the other side of the mitten.
There is evidence the mittens once had a fur strip edging. The mittens have a printed cloth lining, patterned with a brownish green leafy or paisley design on a natural ground. The pattern is not meant to show as it is faced into the inside of the mittens. See Jarvis supplemental file Arts of Americas office.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Cree (Metis). Mittens, early 19th century. Buckskin, porcupine quills, bird quills, glass beads,commercial cloth, rawhide, thread, sinew, 10 x 5 3/4 in. (25.4 x 14.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund, 50.67.13a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.50.67.13a-b_view1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, CUR.50.67.13a-b_view1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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