Bandolier Bag

Culture: possibly Anishinaabe artist
Culture: possibly Menominee artist
Date: c.1880
Material: Glass beads, wool yarn, wool cloth, and cotton cloth
made in: Wisconsin, United States, North and Central America
Classification: Jewelry & personal accessories, textiles
Collection: Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Current Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 25 × 9 1/2 in. (63.5 × 24.1 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Toby Herbst and Danielle Foster-Herbst in loving memory of Lorenz Kneedler Ayers and Anna Marguerite Spackman Ayers
Rights: Public Domain
Object Number: 201:2017

NOTES

This bag features a panel of beadwork with geometric abstractions. The artist wove the panels on a heddle and then sewed them to the pouch and strap of this whole-cloth bag. Additional beadwork embroidered directly on the bag evokes a spiritual power.

The bandolier bag represents a novel form of shoulder bag that developed in the western Great Lakes region in the mid-19th century, with connections to older panel bags. The term for bandolier bags in the Ojibwe language is gashkibidaagan, based on gashk- (attached together) and -bid (tie it).

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