Paint-brush Item Number: 1891.49.77 from the Pitt Rivers Museum

Description

Wooden paintbrush with a crooked handle and missing bristles. [CAK 11/05/2010]

Longer Description

Wooden paintbrush with a crooked handle and missing bristles. The paintbrush is carved from cedar wood and tapers toward the handle. Where the bristles were attached, the brush is flatter and wider. The midsection of the brush has a distinct crook to it. The other end of the brush is rounded and narrower with a section of wood having been eroded or chipped away. The bristles are barely visible. A thin strip of cedar bark is wrapped around the brush and would have originally kept the bristles in place. There are remnants of red and black pigment on the brush. [CAK 11/05/2010]
Roughly carved brushes, painting ends missing bristles and bound in fibre. [JC 13 11 1996]
Paint brushes of various lengths, all showing signs of use - red, black, and some blue paint on brushes and bristles. Quills are bound with fibre to one end to serve as the bristles. [NM 21 2 1997]

Research Notes

The following information comes from Haida delegates who worked with the museum's collection in September 2009 as part of the project “Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge”:
This brush was viewed alongside other paintbrushes on Monday Sept 14, 2009. This is one of seven similar paintbrushes [1891.49.72 - .78]. Gaahlaay (Lonnie Young) identified the material binding the bristles to the brush as sinew and noted that the sinew would be tied on when wet, and then would tighten as it dried. He believed the bristles are made from fur. Ruth Gladstone Davies thought the material binding the bristles was cedar bark. Other delegates identified the handles of the brushes as being made from cedar wood, and the lashings from cedar bark. [CAK 11/05/2010]

Primary Documentation

Accession Book Entry - From Rev. Ch. Harrison, 80 Halton Rd, Canonbury Sq. N. Collection of Haida objects collected by him.... - [One of] 7 old-fashioned paint-brushes. £45.' [Purchase price includes 1891.49.1-110] [JC 4 9 1996]

No additional information on catalogue cards. [JC 4 9 1996]

Old Pitt Rivers Museum label [now in Related Documents File] - Canada, Queen Charlotte Islands, Haida Indians. Paint-brushes for applying black and red paint to masks etc. Purch. from Rev. C. Harrison [NM 13 11 1996]

Written on object - Haida C. Harrison coll. Purchased 1891. [NM 21 2 1997]

Related Documents File - The Haida Project Related Documents File contains video of research sessions and interviews with Haida delegates from September 2009 as part of the project ‘Haida Material Culture in British Museums: Generating New Forms of Knowledge'. It also includes post-visit communications that discuss object provenance. For extensive photographic, video, and textual records documenting the Haida research visit as a whole, including but not limited to preparations of objects for handling, travel logistics, British Museum participation, transcribed notes from research sessions and associated public events held at PRM, see the Haida Project Digital Archive, stored with the Accessions Registers. Original hand-written notes taken during research sessions have been accessioned into the Manuscripts collection, in addition to select other materials. [CAK 02/06/2010]