Knife and Sheath
Arts of the Americas
THE JARVIS COLLECTION
The articles in this case and the adjacent clothing case [see 50.67.6] are some of the earliest and finest Eastern Plains pieces in existence. They were collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis, a military surgeon stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, between 1833 and 1836. Most items were made by the Eastern and Middle Dakota (Sioux) or by the peoples of the Red River region, including the Red River Métis, Anishinabe, Plains Cree, and Salteaux. Some of the objects were purchased by Jarvis, and others may have been given to him in exchange for his medical services.
By the early nineteenth century, the growing numbers of white settlers and military personnel—following decades of fur trading—had depleted much of the game on which the Dakota and Red River peoples depended. Indigenous ingenuity in combining trade materials such as cloth, metal, and glass beads with traditional hides, pipestone, and porcupine and bird quills is evident in these objects.
The articles in this case and the adjacent clothing case [see 50.67.6] are some of the earliest and finest Eastern Plains pieces in existence. They were collected by Dr. Nathan Sturges Jarvis, a military surgeon stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, between 1833 and 1836. Most items were made by the Eastern and Middle Dakota (Sioux) or by the peoples of the Red River region, including the Red River Métis, Anishinabe, Plains Cree, and Salteaux. Some of the objects were purchased by Jarvis, and others may have been given to him in exchange for his medical services.
By the early nineteenth century, the growing numbers of white settlers and military personnel—following decades of fur trading—had depleted much of the game on which the Dakota and Red River peoples depended. Indigenous ingenuity in combining trade materials such as cloth, metal, and glass beads with traditional hides, pipestone, and porcupine and bird quills is evident in these objects.
CULTURE
Probably Sioux
MEDIUM
Hide, metal, wood, porcupine quills, brass, skin, cloth, tin, sinew
DATES
early 19th century
DIMENSIONS
knife: 10 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (26.4 x 2.9 cm)
sheath: 8 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (22.2 x 6.4 cm) (show scale)
COLLECTIONS
Arts of the Americas
ACCESSION NUMBER
50.67.118a-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
Knife and knife sheath. The knife has a slightly curved steel blade that is attached to rounded carved wood handle with a worked sheet of brass. The brass is finished in a series of little points at the handle end and incised with series of simple lines, both parallel and diagonal, to form bands.
The knife sheath is decorated with porcupine quills in purplish brown, orange, yellow, and natural white in a motif of connecting diamonds. The body of the sheath has an orange triangle with "V" shaped outlines at the very bottom, below the pattern of connected diamonds. The panel or cuff is striped. Many metal cones are suspended from the bottom of the cuff and one single cone, or tinkler is suspended from the bottom tip of the sheath. These 'tin-tinklers' on the panel were once quill-wrapped. The leather is thread sewn so that beige ribbon adorns the panel or cuff.
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Probably Sioux. Knife and Sheath, early 19th century. Hide, metal, wood, porcupine quills, brass, skin, cloth, tin, sinew, knife: 10 3/8 x 1 1/8 in. (26.4 x 2.9 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Henry L. Batterman Fund and the Frank Sherman Benson Fund, 50.67.118a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 50.67.118a-b_bw_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 50.67.118a-b_bw_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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