Side chair with porcupine quillwork panels

The Mi'kmaq woman who made the seat and back panel of this chair would likely have been trained within a community of women artists to harvest birch bark without harming trees, make dyes from local plants, and expertly weave porcupine quills into the geometric patterns that we see here. Along with their language and histories in present-day Maine and northeastern Canada, the knowledge of these artistic techniques was passed down through generations. By the mid-1800s, Mi’kmaq artists responded to the Victorian souvenir market by incorporating quillwork into small lidded boxes, tea cozies, and even Renaissance-revival chairs like this one. Although some settlers saw these objects as a sign of assimilation, such works also brought Indigenous design into white households and created a way for resilient Mi’kmaq women to preserve the art of quillwork, even as it changed.