Description: This beautiful wall pocket was made by Paul St John, Mohawk craftsman. It is wall pocket - meant to hold a pocket watch while it's owner slept nearby. This is a form with a decorative style that was made by his Iroquois ancestors pre-1850 ... as early as 1800. The bead decoration is also of designs from this earlier era. It is nonfloral and makes use of spiraled double curves, triangles and trifoliate loops These are design motifs used by all of the Northeast Woodland tribes - Including tribes in the Iroquois and the Wabanaki Confederacies. The bag is of vintage red trade wool. Bag is bound with sage green silk ribbon and the hanging loop at top back is of red silk grosgrain ribbon - this can be seen in 5th photo in slideshow above that is of the back of this piece. The beaded design on the bag is done in glass seed beads of light green, light blue, mauve and white. The wall pocket is teardrop shape. It 7" long and is 4.5" across at widest (bottom). It is lined in green on green calico material of a vintage design. The pocket opening is at the center. This could hang on your wall - as is or in a display frame - or in your display case. You could also attach this pocket to your belt as part of your regalia and put your pocket watch in it... Or use it as a beautiful display piece. The beadwork designs are intricate and delicate. The pastel colors against the red wool trade cloth - are unexpected, but ... if you look at thousands of pieces of early woodland beadwork - you will find several have similar colors and those are always the ones that stand out - unusual and memorable - as is this piece. The non-floral design here is similar to those used on bags, regalia and whimsies made in the first quarter of the 19th century. A book that has several photographs of these earlier non-floral design Northeast bags is called "Made of Thunder, Made of Glass; American Indian Beadwork of the Northeast" by Gerry Biron & JoAnne Russo. It is a valuable resource for the photos alone - the history etc included is an added bonus. Paul St. John now lives in Maine, near his mother's Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac relatives. He is an enrolled Mohawk and grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father's tribe. 2nd from last photo in slideshow is of Paul St John and 2 of his other works. Last photo is of his Mohawk grandmother, Amelia St John who taught him beading. Paul St John also makes birchbark, porcupine quill and coiled sweetgrass baskets, beaded knife cases, traditional dolls, water drums, birch bark rattles, beaded barrettes and moccasins among numerous other traditional crafts - check out more of his work in this ebay store. Paul St. John now lives in Maine, near his mother's Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Micmac relatives. He is an enrolled Mohawk and grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father's tribe. 2nd from last photo in slideshow is of Paul St John and 2 of his other works. Last photo is of his Mohawk grandmother, Amelia St John who taught him beading.
Price: 128.75 USD
Location: Sedgwick, Maine
End Time: 2024-03-02T20:28:20.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.5 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Handmade: Yes
Modified Item: No
Original or Reproduction: original
Material: trade wool, glass beads, silk ribbon
Region or Culture: Northeast
Native American Age: CURRENT - NEW!
Country of Manufacture: United States
Culture: Native American: US
Artisan: Paul St John
Tribal Affiliation: Mohawk
