Browse Items (51 total)

The fact that the extra wefts used to create false embroidery decoration are incorporated into the fabric of the bag encourages designs that feature primarily geometric shapes. This bag, for example, is decorated with a highly symmetrical pattern of…

This bag is very similar to the Oberlin bag and probably nearly as old. Sturdy in construction, tightly woven to keep out dust, and naturally resistant to insects, bags like this stayed in use for many years as the repair adjacent to a large scorch…

The intricate design of roosters, eagles, and butterflies embroidered in colorful woolen yarns on this early 20th century handbag is quite unusual and must have had special meaning for the weaver who created it.

Schlick Collection

Corn husk,…

"Wash~us~etan-way" weaving a large storage bag, c. 1907. It may have taken a woman two to three months to complete a bag of this size. Photo by Fanny van Duyn, Tygh Valley, Oregon. Gary Goodwin Collection, Maryhill Museum of Art cat. no. 1991.06.01.

Possibly a handbag for a child’s doll, or a personal accessory that a senior woman might pin on her dress like a brooch, miniature bags have always been made as a way to demonstrate the weaver’s skill. This bag was made by a Yakama weaver named Lena…

As scholars and collectors became increasingly interested in Native American art over the course of the 20th century, more effort was made to preserve the names and identities of those craftspeople who were still actively practicing the traditional…

This bag uses Indian hemp twine for its foundation fabric and cornhusk cord for its decorative motifs. One side of the bag features a design with colored diagonal bands that were made using natural red, blue and green dyes, while the other side…

This bag is a classic example of a twined bag with false embroidery decoration. Bags of this size and complexity often took as long as two or three months of intermittent labor to complete.

Southwest Museum, Los Angeles

Cotton twine, cornhusk,…

Handbags like this are still considered standard personal accessories for Plateau women today. Highly individual in their decorative treatment, they are used on special occasions and are explicit assertions of Indian identity.

Schlick…

Not to be mistaken for tourist trinkets, personal ornaments like these earrings provide a way for Native women to both “wear” their identity and show off the virtuosity of the weaver’s craft.

Schlick Collection

Cornhusk, yarn, leather