Coat

Museum number:
2-6682
Permalink:
ark:/21549/hm21020006682
Alternate number:
x-2875 (original number)
Accession number:
Acc.167
Description:
Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.
Donor:
Alaska Commercial Company, Benjamin Bristol, and Older University Collections
Collection place:
Alaska
Verbatim coll. place:
Alaska
Culture or time period:
Alaskan Eskimo
Collector:
unknown
Collection date:
unknown
Materials:
Skin (collagenous material) (fish)
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Miniature (size attribute)
Function:
2.1 Daily Garb
Accession date:
1904
Context of use:
Fish skin coat without any fur trim, most likely worn as a base layer since it is thin, plain, and meant to be tight fitting as skin shirts usually are. 2-6728 is very similar except that it is made with a bit of seal skin in addition to fish skin. Native Alaskans are often touted for their ability to brave the cold, though traditional materials and clothing have given way to nonnative garb, skin coats were extremely warm and more water resistant than cloth. Making these clothes requires lots of skill, it is traditionally something that women do with an ulu, carefully separating blubber and meat from the skin and making sure not to rip any holes. The skin is scraped, washed, and then hung out to dry until stiff and then sewn with sinew.
Department:
Native US and Canada (except California)
Dimensions:
measurements for storage— length 48 centimeters and measurements for storage— width 64 centimeters
Comment:
cf. 2-6728 King, Jonathan CH. Arctic Clothing of North America-Alaska, Canada, Greenland. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP, 2005. Hatt, Gudmund, and Kirsten Taylor. "Arctic Skin Clothing in Eurasia and America an Ethnographic Study." Arctic Anthropology 5, no. 2 (1969): 3-132.
Images:
Hearst Museum object 1 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 2 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 3 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 4 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 5 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 6 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Hearst Museum object 7 of 7 titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.
Legacy documentation:
Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.Documentation associated with Hearst Museum object titled Coat, accession number 2-6682, described as Ornamented fish skin coat worn by women. Made of vertical strips of fish skin, alternating brown and white, seams covered with black strips of fish skin; pointed hood with a miniature pouch for infant; rounded lower edge.

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