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Description

Woven string back covering with a fringe of blue and white feathers attached to the fringed end of the strip. The upper end is sewn onto leather thongs. A design in lozenge pattern is carried out in brown on a natural background.; Good.

Context

A note has been added to the catalogue card by an unknown author which states The technique is simple coiling and does not look North American. Looks more like S.American. The original European tribal names and, where possible, current tribal names have both been given in separate GLT fields. A note on the catalogue card states this object was missing in July 1981, it obviously has been found (G.Crowther).; Collected by: Swaine.Admiral.Spelman in ?1791-95.
Literature: Also see the 'Catalogue of the Northwest Coast Collection: Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology' (1996), Dr Gillian Crowther. (J.Tanner, May 1998).
This is one of a number of items which claim to be part of the Vancouver Collection at UCMAA. However, the objects cannot be traced in the Wisbech Museum records. See J.C.H. King in 'Vancouver's Ethnography' in Journal of the History of Collections (1994). This item cannot be obviously traced in the Wisbech Museum records. However, there is an object described as a scarf (1851.94) which may be it. (J.Tanner, December 1998).
Vancouver Collection: George Vancouver (1758-1798) was born in King' s Lynn, Norfolk. His father, John Jasper Vancouver was assistant collector of customs at King's Lynn, which was at that time a busy seaport. It is believed that through his connections he was able to bring George to the attention of Captain James Cook, who was then preparing to sail on the second of his world voyages. Thus George entered the Royal Navy in 1771 upon receiving an appointment from Cook and thereby gained a rigorous training in seamanship. In 1791 Vancouver was sent on a mission to receive the surrender of the Spanish post at Nootka Sound in present day British Columbia, to survey the coast of the American Northwest, and to search for a water connection to the eastern part of the continent. He wrote a lengthy account of his voyage entitled, ' A Voyage of discovery to the North Pacific ocean, and Round the World' (1798). It was on this latter voyage that Spelman Swaine accompanied Vancouver and acquired the objects held at UCMAA. Spelman Swaine was born on 1st January 1769 at Lynn Regis in Norfolk and died on 13th January 1848 at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. His forebears had risen from the ranks of yeoman farmers to gain land in the village of Leverington and build Leverington Hall about 1640, which was held by the family until the end of the 18th century. Swaine himself was brought up at Swanns, another mansion in Leverington, but later moved to Wisbech. He began his naval career in April 1782 and by the October he saw action as midshipman on the ' Recovery' in Lord Howe' s relief of Gibraltar. Thereafter, he lead an eventful and distinguished naval career, finally gaining the rank of Rear Admiral in 1846. In particular, the Swaine collection at UCMAA originates from his period with Captain George Vancouver' s expedition round the world between 1791 and 1795 on the HMS Discovery, as midshipman and later lieutenant. Swaine and his family gave a small but important collection from this voyage to Wisbech Museum, which were later acquired by UCMAA. (J.Tanner, 1999).