Producer unknown to us
Eyeglasses case
Americas, Eastern North America
1830–1940
Birch bark, moose hair, grass, metal
Collection context unknown to us
Handed over to the museum by Naturkundemuseum Stralsund in 1965
NAm 4811
The flat case is made of birch bark embroidered scenes made with moose hair and blades of grass: a person smoking a pipe, a woman beside a plant. The lid depicts a bird perched on branches and a person next to tent-like plant stems.
Eastern Indigenous communities used birch bark not only to build canoes and huts but also to craft boxes and lidded vessels. The seams were even caulked to waterproof these vessels. They were used for storing food supplies such as maple syrup and sugar, nuts, dried berries, and more. In response to mass tourism of the growing middle class in the eastern United States and Canada in the mid-19th century, Indigenous artisans crafted such boxes as souvenirs, for example as cases for eyeglasses and cigars, fans, or small models of canoes.
This object came to Leipzig from Naturkundemuseum Stralsund in 1965 as part of the GDR’s museum profiling campaign. However, its exact provenance remains undetermined until now.
Frank Usbeck