Photographs (left to right): Monhonk, New York; Suwannee River Park Live Oaks, Florida; Monhonk, New York

Wampum Belt Archive

 

 

Iroquois - Algonquin Wampum Belt

Courtesy British Museum

Cat. AM 2767

pre mid 19th century

Reproduction R. D. Hamell Feb. 02 2013

Original Size:	Rows: 7. Length: 164 rows. Leather thong. Weft: linen thread or vegetable twine. Length: 24.0 inches. Width: 2.2 inches. Total 1,148 beads
Reproduction:	Beaded Length: 26.6 inches long by 3.2 inches wide. Length w/fringe: 50.0 inches.
Beads:	Beaded Length: 164 row by 7 rows. Total 1,148 beads
Materials:	Warp: Deer leather. Weft: artificial sinew.

Description:

Materials: The belt of purple and white shell wampum has a warp of leather thong and a weft of linen thread or vegetable twine.

Format/Techniques: The belt was woven on a bow loom. It has 8 warp strands, producing a belt of 7 rows. The belt is 7 wampum wide and 164 long, making a theoretical total of 1,148 shell beads.

Motifs and Images: The design consists of 6 pairs of parallel lines of purple wampum, with pairs divided by a line of white wampum two beads wide. The four pairs of parallel lines in the Center of the belt run in the same diagonal direction-- the pairs of lines at both ends run in the opposing direction.

This item is part of a larger collection donated to the British Museum by the English ethnologist Henry Christy between 1860 and 1869.

Catalogue or Unique ID Number at Current Location: Am.2767

At Current Location, Part of Collection: Christy Collection

Reference:

British Museum. For more details see - http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx