Souvenir Beaded Bag (Late Niagara Floral Style)

NamePurse / Bag

Artist Artist Not Recorded

CultureHaudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), likely Seneca or Tuscarora

Date1860s

Place madeUnited States, North America

MediumSilk velvet, silk and cotton ribbons, paper and linen burlap lining, glass beads

Dimensions5 x 5 x 3/4 in.

Credit LineGift of Mary Alice Stielau

Object numberA.2023.4.1

Collections

New Acquisitions: The Gift of Folk Art

ProvenanceThe donor inherited this object from family many years ago. Beaded bags of this type were sold as tourist souvenirs in large quantities throughout the Northeast / Niagara Frontier during the 19th century and circulated widely.

DescriptionSmall, palm-sized beaded clutch or bag. Brown silk velvet foundation, lined in paper and linen burlap. Top opening edged with brown silk ribbon. Body trimmed with red cotton edge binding. The scalloped flaps (non-functional and echoing the shape of the body’s lower edge) are trimmed with a two-bead edging, though many beads are now missing. Surface is densely covered on both sides with glass seed beads on linen thread using two techniques of raised beadwork applique: 1) the two-needle “spot stitch” (laying down a string of beads on the surface, then tacking it down using the second needle and thread); and 2) the “lane stitch” (laying down rows of several beads with each stitch). The beaded design features the same naturalistic cluster of leaves centered on the body and flaps of both sides. These central motifs are outlined with an outer ring of short perpendicular lines in blue and white beads. A template made of newsprint, used to guide the placement of motifs and provide additional stability when working velvet, can be detected under the beaded surface.