Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Otter Skin Bag
Not on view
The whole skin of an otter, a revered animal at home on land and underwater, functions here as a bag, with a slit below the head to provide an opening. The artist added porcupine quillwork and fringe to the pelt, heightening the animal’s lifelike presence as a powerful spirit being. The creation of whole-skin bags was common in much of the Woodlands and Great Plains. These bags were used to store sacred tobacco and other materials of healing and prayer.
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