Browse Items (51 total)

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…

Pink, bronze, cranberry and white beads create a geometric design that is quite similar to those found on some 19th-century twined bags. Elaborate beaded bags of this type were frequently passed down within families from generation to generation as…

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 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,…

A floral arrangement picked out in red, orange, and brown beads against a blue background adorns the front of this meticulously crafted bag. Its leather trim and velvet back further enhance its luxurious appeal.

Southwest Museum, Los…

Toward the end of the 19th century, cotton replaced Indian hemp as the primary foundation material in most Columbia River twined bags. This handbag has a cotton twine foundation, a false embroidery surface of natural cornhusk and synthetically dyed…

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…

Wedding trade. The women's family traded dried roots in root bags and dried berries in berry baskets. Alalimteeyik, grandmother of Mr. Moses Thomas. Courtesy, Rev. H. L. Sugden, Lapwai, Idaho, c. 1900.