ticketsMember | Make a donation

Twined Bag

Unrecorded Anishinaabe, Ojibwa or Ottawa Artist Native American or First Nations
ca. 1800
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
This refined bag was created using the indigenous technique of twining, which involves twisting one set of threads around another set. Here, the artist incorporated a luxurious trade wool yarn with native buffalo wool and plant fibers in her geometric patterns and figural images. One side of the bag depicts a mythological being, perhaps holding snakes or lightning. The other side, with a celestial body above, shows an underwater panther—a supernatural being composed of several animal traits thought to inhabit the Great Lakes landscape.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Twined Bag
  • Artist: Unrecorded Anishinaabe, Ojibwa or Ottawa Artist (Native American or First Nations)
  • Date: ca. 1800
  • Geography: Country of Origin Great Lakes, United States or Canada
  • Culture: Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) or Ottawa
  • Medium: Nettle, wool, hide
  • Dimensions: H. 8 × W. 5 1/2 in. (20.3 × 14 cm)
  • Credit Line: Collection of Charles and Valerie Diker (672)
  • Rights and Reproduction: Image © Charles and Valerie Diker Collection/Photo: Dirk Bakker
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing