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Cradle


Nom de l'objet : Cradle
Type de l'objet : Doll
Catégorie de l'objet : Recreational Artifacts
Sous-catégorie de l'objet : Toys
Matériaux : Ash Splint
Numéro d'accession : ==1971.063
Culture : Native
Description : Two wooden rockers and wooden base ( Nailed ). One green splint decoration runs horizontally half way up around the sides. Marked on the side of the front rocker, in pencil: "March 22, 1889".
Commentaires : Very few basket doll's cradles have survived because they were well used by little girls who were not always gentle with their toys. The damaged hood shows that the cradle had been picked up at its weakest point. There is a blue green natural dye weaver (weft) on the sides and traces of purple natural dye on weavers near the base. There may have been other dyes that have completely disappeared. The blue green dye was made from a plant having a waxy substance that protected it from ultraviolet light. However, this dye does not penetrate the wood and will rub off. Each natural dye has a different texture when applied to the wood and some could only adhere to rough surfaces. (see a late 18th early 19th century cutlery basket in the collections of the Mus‚e Acadien, l'Universit‚ de Moncton). Natural dyes also react differently to ultraviolet light. In addition, they do not penetrate the wood in the same way. Some remain on the surface others penetrate the wood and others penetrate the splint through and through (see my unpublished report Hat Box Type Basket, 1992, p.5 this basket was donated to the Centre Culturel Malecite in Cacouna Qu‚bec). Natural dyes were swabbed on one side of the splint before the splint was woven into the basket (Eckstorm, 1980, p. 24). These dyes took time to harvest and prepare, consequently, they were applied sparingly. When commercial aniline dyes became available, they were cheap and plentiful; therefore, the whole splint could be dipped in the dye vat. On commercially dyed baskets, all the colours have the same texture and fade at the same rate. (for more information on dyes see Acc. No. 1980.067) On most basket dolls cradles from the late 19th and early 20th centuries the rockers were added by the buyer. In earlier examples it seems the rockers were added by the basket maker. On this cradle they were probably added on at the time the basket was made. The rockers and the interior wooden base are made of cedar. Cedar was also used in the first half of the 19th century on Mi'kmaq quill boxes and on Mi'kmaq and Maliseet bark boxes. I have a Maliseet etched bark box from the turn of the 19th century in my collection that has a cedar base and there is a cedar base and rockers in the Mid 19th century quillwork cradle in the New Brunswick Museum (acc. No. 6065). The nails used to attach the rockers to this cradle are hand forged and appear also to originate from the first half of the 19th century. Finally the wear on the bottom of the rockers shows this cradle has had much use. This basket dolls cradle may be Maliseet but is probably Mi'kmaq and dates from circa 1855. Both Wabanaki peoples made basket dolls cradles and used cedar bases. I have not seen any Maliseet dolls cradles from this period but the NBM Mi'kmaq dolls cradle, from the mid 19th century, has about the same proportions as this cradle. In addition, the rockers have about the same shape as those on the Mi'kmaq quillwork cradle. This basket cradle predates 1868 because natural dyes were used until the late 1860s. It was made after 1850 because a splint guage was used to cut the widths of the splints on this basket. This tool was introduced about 1850. Consequently the suggested 1889 date given by the donor is unlikely.
Hauteur : 18
Largeur : 10
Unité de mesure linéaire : cm
Établissement : Kings County Museum of New Brunswick  Facebook-Kings County Museum of New Brunswick  Twitter-Kings County Museum of New Brunswick  YouTube-Kings County Museum of New Brunswick
Ville de l'établissement : Hampton
Province de l'établissement : New Brunswick

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