UNIDENTIFIED MI'KMAQ ARTIST
Quillwork Lidded Box, c. 1850
porcupine quills, organic pre-aniline dyes, softwood, birchbark, spruce root, and cotton thread, 6 x 8.25 x 6.5 in (15.2 x 21 x 16.5 cm)

ESTIMATE: $2,500 — $3,500

Provenance
Mrs Re. S. Cameron, Montreal, with a handwritten letter contained in the box interior, which reads: "To Those it may Concern / Ladies Handicraft Society Dear Friends / This little Box is over 100 yrs old & / was given [to] our great / Grand-Mother for / a bannock of bread - / I am Indian - [?] - "Black [Smoke or Snake?]" / When this country / was a dense forest. / The Cameron's came from Lochaber Scotland / they were the pioneers / I am ill & require / some money. Please / try 2 sell for me / Yours in [Hope?] / Mrs Re. S. Cameron". This letter has been later inscribed in an unknown hand, "Canadian handicrafts Shop Montreal 7/22/25";
Private Collection, Montreal.

A respected and practiced skill, Mi’kmaq quillwork gained a broader popularity with European audiences through trading. The 1850s saw an uptick in Mi’kmaq artisans further marketing this artform, and the lidded box type was a favoured item with traders and buyers. The trunk shape that can be seen in this example has a wooden liner to help provide structure and support, as well as a larger canvas for the design work. A beautiful alternating diamond chevron spans across the sides of the box, while the lid sports patiently laid and tacked quills in a variety of patterns and colours.

References: For a similar example of a lidded box in a chest form, see First Arts, Toronto, 12 June 2023, Lot 65. For similar examples see Ruth Holmes Whitehead, Micmac Quillwork: Micmac Indian Techniques of Porcupine Quill Decoration: 1600-1950, (Halifax: The Nova Scotia Museum, 1982), nos. 135 and 136. This book remains the definitive introduction to the subject. See also Rectangular quilled box with lid, object number 1948.39.241 a,b, in the Philbrook Museum of Art. For a similarly fine though slightly smaller example from the George Terasaki Collection see Evan M. Maurer, The Native American Heritage: A Survey of North American Indian Art, (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1977), cat. 75, p. 99, and colour plate 4. See also Walrus Gallery, Quevillon Collection, (Kennebunkport, ME: Walrus Gallery), p. 31. For a somewhat larger but similarly styled quilled “trunk” from the 1840s, see Ralph T. Coe et al, The Responsive Eye: Ralph T. Coe and the Collecting of American Indian Art, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003), cat. 50.