Covered quillwork box

Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) artist

20th century

Birchbark, quills, thread, plant fibers

Minneapolis Institute of Art

A rectangular lidded box made of birchbark is decorated with quillwork in floral motifs and a woven border. The lid features three stylized flowers and a central stem, while the sides display two similar floral designs. A rectangular lidded box made of birchbark is decorated with quillwork in floral motifs and a woven border. The lid features three stylized flowers and a central stem, while the sides display two similar floral designs. The Anishinaabe woman artist who created this intricately adorned and finely woven basket utilized locally harvested porcupine quills, birchbark, and sweetgrass. Artists often incorporated abstraction into their work, layering quills in complex patterns and forms that reveal both technical mastery and artistic ingenuity. For more than two hundred years, Anishinaabe women sold many of their birchbark containers and ba