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Object Number
88-51-10/50695
Display Title
Wooden cradle
Descriptions
Object Description
Head-flattening "dugout"-type cradle carved from a single piece of cedar. A platform at the wider end of the cradle held the infant's head; sixteen holes in the proper right side held cordage to hold the infant down. A single white glass seed bead is imbedded in the wood in the interior wall at the base of the cradle, proper right side.
[Note: Victor-Howe writes that the platform is in the widest part of the cradle, while EmbARK would put it in the narrowest part. Which way is it? A look at the photos in EmbARK suggests that the wider end may be correct.]
Inventory Description
Carved wooden cradle, rectangular, handle, divide in center, string ties, painte
Classification
- Baby Carrier
Department
Ethnographic
Date
ca. 1800-1840
Culture
- Chinook
Geography/Provenience/Site Name
North America
/
United States
/
Washington
Materials
String Pigment Cedar
Dimensions
Overall: 67.5 x 22.8 x 20 cm (26 9/16 x 9 x 7 7/8 in.)
Quantity
1
Label on object
50695; 73313
Credit Line
Exchange with the Smithsonian Institution, 1888
Provenance
Owner
Joseph Harrison, Jr.
(1850 - 1879)
Collector
Meriwether Lewis
(Unknown - Unknown)
Collector
William Clark
(Unknown - Unknown)
Collector
George Catlin
(early 1830s - 1850)
Donor
Smithsonian Institution
(1879 - 1888)
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