Ethnology Collection - Porcupine Quill-Work Chair

A Triumph in Design

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What do you get when you combine traditional Mi’kmaw quill work with furniture-making techniques of the 1800s? A triumph in design that became all the rage in Victorian Nova Scotia. Either Mrs. Maloney or Mrs. Christopher Paul of Shubenacadie made the seat and back panels for this quilled, birch-bark chair in 1892, most likely for an Indian Agent. Did you know that the Nova Scotia Museum holds one of the best collections of Mi’kmaw quill work in the world?

Object type: 
Quill Decorated Chair Panels
Object #: 
III-F-338
Collection name: 
Curator: 
Date (age/made): 
19th Century
Origin/place: 
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
Materials: 
Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia