Object number
4201.35.1
Title
Moose Skin Coat
Description
A Métis moose skin coat, from the Red River Valley area of Canada. The coat is ecorated with quillwork and embroidery on the shoulder epaulets, lapels, cuffs and along the seams on the back of the coat. The quillwork on the lapels and cuffs is floral, whereas the strips of quillwork on the sleeves, shoulders and the back are a geometric pattern. The predominant colours are red and white, but there is also yellow, green and blue. The cuffs are decorated with strands of dyed hair which may be moose. The bottom edge of the coat is fringed, and there is a fringed epaulet on one shoulder strung with white beads, the other is now missing. The coat has a single button fastening.
This style of coat is typical of coats made in using traditional North American materials and techniques, but modelled on European style coats, including military jackets. The geometric patterns are possibly of Algonquian origin, whilst the floral elements are European. This reflects both European and Indian ancestry of Métis artisans.
Métis are people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry, and one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The use of the term Métis is complex and contentious, and has different historical and contemporary meanings. The term is used to describe communities of mixed European and Indigenous descent across Canada, and a specific community of people — defined as the Métis Nation — which originated largely in Western Canada and emerged as a political force in the 19th century, radiating outwards from the Red River Settlement. While the Canadian government politically marginalized the Métis after 1885, they have since been recognized as an Aboriginal people with rights enshrined in the Constitution of Canada and more clearly defined in a series of Supreme Court of Canada decisions.
Production period
Early Victorian, 1837-1850
Dimensions
- Height: coat 1080 mm
- Width: 470 mm