Ethnology Collection - Quilled Birch-Bark and Moose-Hair Embroidered Bookmark

This Bookmark Tells Its Own Story

A skilled Mi’kmaw artisan. A young woman from a prominent Nova Scotian family. The Prince of Wales. All have connections to this stunning embroidered bookmark.

The bookmark was made by Sarah Rachael Uniacke under the direction of a Mi’kmaw teacher who gave her weekly lessons in moose hair embroidery. When the Prince of Wales visited Nova Scotia in 1860, he was presented with a large number of Mi’kmaq artworks. Sarah’s bookmark was not among these gifts – instead, she sent it to her aunt in England. But you can see a bookmark very much like hers, including the lovely conch-shell motif, in the Prince’s collection, now held at the Isle of Wight.

Object type: 
Moose Haired Embroidered Bookmark
Object #: 
1980.105.1
Collection name: 
Curator: 
Date (age/made): 
19th Century
Origin/place: 
Halifax, NS
Materials: 
Birch Bark, moose hair, porcupine quills, silk fibre and cotton
Dimensions: 
320 mm x 48 mm