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Ceremonial »button blanket«

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An industrially manufactured wool blanket, acquired from Hudson Bay Company traders, is hemmed on three sides with red cloth. There is an animal motif in the middle. It presumably represents a toad. The outlines are picked out with mother of pearl buttons sewn onto the blanket and were presumably imported from China. The red appliqué sections provide colourful accents.Button blankets were made by Haida women using imported materials. They were worn at ritual dances by high-ranking men. In a similar way to a coat of arms, they present the totem animals of respective clans.Nowadays, button blankets are once more an important part of Haida ceremonial and festive costume and are also worn by women.Author: Eva Gerhards, Translation: Timothy Connell

Data Provider
Museen Freiburg Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
Tlingit
Object type
Decke
Dimensions
Width: 1600.0 mm
Height: 1480.0 mm
Material/Technique
Mother-of-pearl, Fabric, Wool, Button cover
Current location
Museum Natur und Mensch
Inventory number
III/1784

Provenance and sources

  • Production
    when
    around 1890
  • Change of legal title:
    Purchase
    when
    28.11.1962
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    Canada (location/origin)
    British Columbia (location/origin)
    North America (location/origin)
    USA (location/origin)
    Alaska (location/origin)
    who
    Stolper, Robert L. - Collectors
  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    America

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC0 1.0 DEED

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