While Mi’kmaq quillwork had gained popularity through trading, the continued decline of the fur trade throughout the 1800s really solidified the skill as a marketable one. The 1850s saw an uptick in Mi’kmaq artisans skillfully creating baskets, furniture, and even decorative elements for clothes for the burgeoning market. A lidded box was a favoured item with traders and buyers, but the trunk shape that can be seen in this example provided an extra challenge; as the large, flat planes had the tendency to buckle and fail when made of birch bark, a wooden liner was constructed to support the bark and quillwork. This extra step provided a larger canvas for the design work, further highlighting the skilled hand that wove these quills. In this exceptional example, the sides of the box have chevron designs, while the ends of the lid are half-chevron. The top of the lid features a lovely compass design, possibly incorporating the “eight-legged starfish” pattern.

References: For similar examples see Ruth Holmes Whitehead, Micmac Quillwork: Micmac Indian Techniques of Porcupine Quill Decoration: 1600-1950, (Halifax: The Nova Scotia Museum, 1982), nos. 135 and 136. This book remains the definitive introduction to the subject. See also Rectangular quilled box with lid, object number 1948.39.241 a,b, in the Philbrook Museum of Art. For a similarly fine though slightly smaller example from the George Terasaki Collection see Evan M. Maurer, The Native American Heritage: A Survey of North American Indian Art, (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1977), cat. 75, p. 99, and colour plate 4. See also Walrus Gallery, Quevillon Collection, (Kennebunkport, ME: Walrus Gallery), p. 31. For a somewhat larger but similarly styled quilled “trunk” from the 1840s, see Ralph T. Coe et al, The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), cat. 50.