Tobacco Bag
CultureEastern Plains
Dateca. 1840
MediumRaccoon skin and skull, native tanned leather, natural and dyed porcupine quills, wool cloth, silk ribbon, bird claws, brass bells and buttons, glass beads, metal cones, feather, and animal hair
DimensionsOverall: 26 × 5 × 2 3/4 inches (66.04 × 12.7 × 6.99 cm)
Credit LineAnonymous gift
Object number2002.24
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionContainer made from an entire animal skin (probably black-footed ferret), decorated with porcupine quillwork on tail, glass beads, brass bells and other suspensions. Bird claw "horns" at the sides of the head.Gallery LabelThe practice of transforming the whole skin of an animal into a bag used for storing tobacco and other materials was common throughout much of the Woodlands and Plains. The creatures' pelts were usually elaborated with quillwork, beadwork and paint together with delicate suspensions of various materials. The addition of these decorative elements effected a remarkable transfiguration. Rather than disguising the presence of the animal, its lifelike presence was allowed to be predominant; the resulting image was that of a powerful spirit-being, honored and enhanced by splendid ornamentation. The eagle talon "horns" affixed to the sides of the head symbolize sacred power.
Torrence, Gaylord, ed. Continuum: North American Native Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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