Thanks to trading with European audiences, the mid-1850s saw an uptick in Mi’kmaq artisans marketing their quillwork in a broader variety of forms and structures. A lidded box, regardless of shape, was a favoured form within the artform, both for its function to potential purchasers and the wide canvas it provided its maker. In this example, a chevron pattern repeats across the body of the box, while a blue and white diamond motif takes the lion’s share of the lid. Smaller triangles of undyed quills have been incorporated into the lid’s design as well, standing out against the expanse of white quills. With its snug-fitting lid to keep treasures secured away, it is a charming, utilitarian work.

AC

References: For a fine example of contemporary quillwork to this lot, see First Arts, Toronto, 12 June 2023, Lot 65. 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.