The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Native American Armbands [ARK00084]
Attached People: Collector (major) - Bargrave, John (1610-1680)Location(s): Current location at - Canterbury Cathedral Library and Archives (Library and/or Archive) -> Canterbury Cathedral (Institution)
Annotation:[Canterbury Catalog: These armbands are part of a set of porcupine quill adornments given to John Bargrave as a gift of thanks from "one Mr. Tymothy Couley" one of the 162 "slaves" freed after Bargrave's negotiations with the Dey of Algiers and the "10,000lb of hierarchical money, for that purpose". Bargrave thought they came from the north-west of America or the West Indies. In fact, they probably came from the Cree tribe on the south of Hudson's Bay. Two ornaments each consisting of a leather thong slit into two double rows, wrapped with coloured plant fibre and stitched together at intervals of about 40mm. One row is red, the other brown and white. One end has been left unwrapped as a single thong, the other has two of the ends of the thong wrapped in brown and white and looped, the other two ends being left for tying.] (approx early - mid 17th cent)