﻿60 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  Origin 
  of 
  Iroquois 
  silversmithing. 
  A 
  few 
  additional 
  notes 
  from 
  

   the 
  Archeologist's 
  paper 
  previously 
  mentioned 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  of 
  

   immediate 
  interest. 
  

  

  Iroquois 
  silversmithing 
  and 
  silver 
  work 
  are 
  subjects 
  worthy 
  of 
  the 
  

   attention 
  of 
  ethnologists. 
  Silver 
  brooches 
  are 
  among 
  the 
  most 
  

   sought 
  for 
  of 
  the 
  later 
  day 
  products 
  of 
  Iroquois 
  art. 
  Beauchamp, 
  

   Converse 
  and 
  Harrington 
  have 
  each 
  interesting 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  

   brooches 
  but 
  none 
  of 
  them 
  has 
  indicated 
  how 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  first 
  ob- 
  

   tained 
  their 
  knowledge 
  of 
  silver 
  working 
  or 
  have 
  suggested 
  how 
  

   the 
  patterns 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  common 
  forms 
  were 
  secured. 
  Mrs 
  Converse 
  

   wrote 
  " 
  I 
  fail 
  to 
  find 
  in 
  illustrations 
  of 
  jewelry 
  ornamentation 
  of 
  

   either 
  the 
  French, 
  English 
  or 
  Dutch, 
  designs 
  that 
  have 
  been 
  act- 
  

   ually 
  followed 
  in 
  the 
  hammered 
  coin 
  brooch 
  of 
  the 
  Iroquois." 
  Har- 
  

   rington 
  remarks 
  in 
  his 
  excellent 
  paper, 
  the 
  best 
  yet 
  issued 
  on 
  the 
  

   subject, 
  " 
  Before 
  concluding, 
  a 
  few 
  words 
  concerning 
  the 
  art 
  of 
  

   silversmithing 
  among 
  the 
  Iroquois 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  out 
  of 
  place. 
  Of 
  

   course 
  such 
  a 
  discussion 
  must 
  necessarily 
  be 
  almost 
  entirely 
  theo- 
  

   retical. 
  Taking 
  the 
  brooches 
  first, 
  it 
  seems 
  possible 
  that 
  we 
  may 
  

   look 
  for 
  their 
  ultimate 
  origin 
  in 
  the 
  ornaments 
  of 
  copper, 
  mica 
  

   and 
  other 
  materials, 
  thought 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  sewed 
  or 
  tied 
  upon 
  gar- 
  

   ments 
  as 
  ornaments 
  by 
  many 
  tribes 
  of 
  the 
  precolonial 
  period. 
  As 
  

   Beauchamp 
  says, 
  ' 
  Apparently 
  the 
  brooch 
  was 
  the 
  evolution 
  from 
  the 
  

   gorget 
  for 
  some 
  (early) 
  ornaments 
  of 
  this 
  kind 
  were 
  tied 
  on, 
  not 
  

   buckled.' 
  He 
  mentions 
  and 
  figures 
  such 
  a 
  crude 
  broochlike 
  orna- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  copper 
  found 
  on 
  an 
  Onondaga 
  site 
  of 
  1677. 
  I^ 
  is 
  difficult 
  

   to 
  surmise 
  how 
  the 
  buckle 
  tongue 
  fastening 
  originated, 
  or 
  if 
  bor- 
  

   rowed 
  whence 
  it 
  came. 
  Perhaps 
  the 
  idea 
  was 
  in 
  some 
  way 
  derived 
  

   from 
  the 
  old-fashioned 
  shoe 
  or 
  belt 
  buckle 
  of 
  the 
  colonists. 
  Exam- 
  

   ining 
  the 
  patterns, 
  the 
  Masonic 
  type 
  speaks 
  for 
  itself, 
  as 
  being 
  

   clearly 
  of 
  European 
  origin; 
  but 
  other 
  forms 
  are 
  not 
  so 
  easily 
  traced. 
  

   The 
  heart 
  type 
  surmounted 
  by 
  an 
  apparent 
  crown 
  looks 
  suspic- 
  

   iously 
  European 
  also 
  ; 
  but 
  we 
  can 
  not 
  prove 
  that 
  the 
  heart, 
  which 
  

   occurs 
  so 
  often 
  in 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  Iroquois 
  carving 
  and 
  bead 
  work, 
  is 
  

   not 
  a 
  pattern 
  native 
  to 
  the 
  people. 
  The 
  crown-shaped 
  ornament 
  

   above 
  possibly 
  represents 
  a 
  feathered 
  headdress, 
  or 
  sometimes 
  an 
  

   owl's 
  head. 
  . 
  . 
  " 
  

  

  The 
  Archeologist 
  became 
  interested 
  in 
  Indian 
  silver 
  ornaments 
  

   in 
  his 
  early 
  boyhood 
  when 
  he 
  associated 
  with 
  other 
  Seneca 
  boys 
  

   on 
  the 
  reservation. 
  His 
  mother, 
  Mrs 
  PYederick 
  E. 
  Parker, 
  was 
  

   fortunate 
  enough 
  to 
  secure 
  a 
  large 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  silver 
  brooches, 
  

   known 
  to 
  the 
  Indians 
  as 
  enius'-kd, 
  which 
  was 
  exhibited 
  at 
  the 
  Buf- 
  

   falo 
  International 
  Exposition 
  in 
  1888. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  rarer 
  forms 
  

   from 
  this 
  collection 
  with 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  Governor 
  Blacksnake 
  wampum 
  

   belts 
  were 
  given 
  later 
  to 
  Mrs 
  H. 
  M. 
  Converse 
  and 
  are 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  

   New 
  York 
  State 
  Museum. 
  Subsequently 
  the 
  Archeologist 
  collected 
  

   a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  brooches 
  which 
  he 
  added 
  to 
  the 
  above 
  mentioned 
  

  

  