Sap Bucket

Object/Artifact

-

Vermont Historical Society

Name/Title

Sap Bucket

Entry/Object ID

2017.3.7

Description

Folded birch bark sap bucket, also called a “quick basket.” The bucket is made of several layers of birch bark, folded together to form a holding vessel. The white part of the birch bark faces the exterior of the basket. A piece of wood crosses the top of the bucket and pierces the birch bark at the top of the folds. Metal wire is attached to the piece of wood. The wire would have been hung on a wooden sap spile for collecting maple sap.

Context

According to the donor, this 19th century birch bark sap bucket, or “quick basket,” was used to collect maple sap for sugaring in northern Vermont.

Acquisition

Accession

2017.3

Source or Donor

Wiseman, Frederick M.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Frederick M. Wiseman

Made/Created

Date made

1800 - 1900

Time Period

19th Century

Ethnography

Culture/Tribe

Abenaki
Native American

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Bucket, Sap

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Tool, Maple Sugaring

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Food Processing Equipment

Nomenclature Class

Food Processing & Preparation T&E

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Height

6 in

Width

4 in

Length

9-1/2 in

Material

Birch, Metal

Interpretative Labels

Label

Mskwajo (Sap Bucket), 19th Century Northern Vermont Birch, metal Gift of Frederick M. Wiseman, 2017.3.7 The Abenaki, our region's original inhabitants, developed the process of maple sugaring. They were the first to recognize that the sap of the sugar maple was sweet and could be refined into sugar or syrup, and they were the first to experiment with various technologies for collecting that sap. This mskwajo, or birch bark sap bucket in English, would have been attached to a wooden spile driven into a maple tree and left hanging to collect sap as it ran in early spring. Birch bark is a remarkably pliable material and in this case was folded to make a water-tight container. The mskwajo’s donor indicates it was used in northern Vermont, likely by a maple producer of Abenaki origin.