Untitled

Artist/Maker Porter, Sophie [Mrs. Captain W.P.S. "Alphabetical" Porter]

Place MadeAlaska, United States

Date 1895

Mediumleather, fabric (broadcloth), fabric (cotton), ink, paint, ribbon

Donor credit lineGift of Elizabeth Lee

Object number2010.60.43

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionFolded pouch with two compartments, made by Sophie Porter c. 1895. Soft deer hide or caribou hide lined with lightweight orange cotton broadcloth and a strip of cotton padding, trimmed on top with a silky orange bow, and decorated on the two outside panels and the two inside surfaces with ink-and-paint drawings and inscriptions by Sophie Porter (Mrs. Captain W.P.S. "Alphabetical" Porter). Side 1: broadside portrait of a whaling bark with davits, banked and down-rigged for wintering over, flanked by ribbon ornaments. Side 2: Scene of a figure in a parka with casks and lifts, standing in front of two Native winter dwellings (an igloo and a lodge house). Inside 1: Inscribed "Herschel/ Island" with a curly border festooned whit floral and ribbon devices. Inside 2: A garland of 9 flowers strung on a ribbons, inscribed "February 29th/ 1896".ProvenanceObjects associated with Captain Albert C. Sherman, his wife Carrie, son Albert Jr. ("Bertie") and daughter Helen. The family brought back souvenirs from a Western Arctic wintering-over voyage of 1895-1897. The donor is the granddaughter of Helen Herschel Paul (nee Sherman), who was born on Herschel Island in 1895.

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