Clasp

Object/Artifact

Vermont Historical Society

Name/Title

Clasp

Entry/Object ID

2017.3.12

Description

Silver clasp or brooch with engraved and cut design. The clasp is in the shape of a circle with a hollow center. The central hole is rimmed with engraved sprigs. The outer edge and the middle are decorated with removed leaf shapes. The clasp is a hammered wire looped around a hold and spanning the center.

Context

Silver clasp made by French traders to trade with Indigenous Americans.

Acquisition

Accession

2017.3

Source or Donor

Wiseman, Frederick M.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Frederick M. Wiseman

Made/Created

Artist

Palin, Louis Charles (1700-1774)

Date made

1750 - 1774

Place

City

Montreal

State/Province

Quebec

Country

Canada

Continent

North America

Ethnography

Culture/Tribe

Abenaki

Native American

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Clasp

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Fastener

Nomenclature Class

Multiple Use T&E for Materials

Nomenclature Category

Category 04: Tools & Equipment for Materials

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Overall

Depth

1/4 in

Diameter

2-1/8 in

Material

Silver

Interpretative Labels

Label

Clasp, 1750-1774 Louis Charles Palin dit Dabonville (1700-1774) Montreal, French and British North America Silver Gift of Frederick M. Wiseman, #2017.3.12 Starting at first contact, Europeans traded metal and glass items to indigenous people in exchange for assistance, furs, food, shelter, and other necessities. This silver clasp or brooch was made specifically for trade by a known French silversmith living in Montreal. The clasp descended in an Abenaki family and was last worn by Abenaki Frederick Wiseman at the Vermont recognition ceremony in 2011.