Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box
ca. 1900
Maine
Birchbark, spruce root
10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm
The Helen Pep Grodka Collection
Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal
25/1662
Passamaquody peoples long used birchbark to make durable and waterproof household objects. Beginning in the late 1800s, they began making birchbark objects for tourists. Tomah Joseph’s work—birchbark boxes, model canoes, and other items decorated with pictorial images drawn from Passamaquoddy stories and made to sell—demonstrates the evolution of the birchbark tradition from household items to tourist art. On this birchbark box, the Passamaquoddy culture hero Glooscap, the Great Hare, sits smoking a pipe. As is typically the case, the design is drawn by scratching away the outer, darker surface of the bark, to reveal a lighter layer of bark underneath. Tomah Joseph signed this box on one side.
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (top), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (interior bottom), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (bottom), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (side), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (side), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (side), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph (Passamaquoddy, 1837–1914), birchbark box (side), ca. 1900. Maine. Birchbark, spruce root; 10.5 x 6.5 x 8 cm. The Helen Pep Grodka Collection. Presented by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Blumenthal. 25/1662
+
Tomah Joseph, Penobscot Indian, August 9, 1894. 98700065. Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. http://www.peabody.harvard.edu
+
