Thursday, July 21, 2005

Whimsy: Not the Dr. and not the State of Mind

In the late 1800s and the early 20th Century, members of the Iroquois Indian tribe produce exceptional bead work as a way to generate income. These objects, in the form of pillows, pin cushions, purses, frames and knick-knacks, were sold as souvenirs to visitors to Niagara Falls and other areas near Iroquois settlements. Some of them carry actual dates, like samplers, when they were created.

These beadwork pieces have become important collectables with groups of people who buy and sell them around the world. They are referred to as “whimsies”, a term we believe was used to reflect that they had no real function beyond displaying some excellent bead work and carrying memories of a trip to a famous place.

At one point, we got caught up in the movement and began to collect examples

Well, there is a time for everything. We’ve decided it is a time for us to de-acquire (a great museum term meaning, “selling”) some of our Iroquois beaded whimsies.

We have not posted any to our Web sites – yet. But we are offering them on eBay, through both the auctions (seller = taosski) and in our store at
http://stores.ebay.com/Art-of-the-First-Person/ .

We may also post some of them to
http://www.gathergate.com , where we also have some arctic carvings and other artwork posted for sale.

Thank you again for reading this blogletter published by Aboriginals: Art of the First Person. You may subscribe at bloglines.com, feedburner.com or by clicking on the “sign up” icon if one appears on your page.

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