For the Nalbound Object of the Week, we head to Australia where there is a strong nalbinding tradition amongst the aboriginal peoples. Most commonly we see this in their string bags. This bag was collected in 1896 and is now in the Ethnographic collections of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
Courtesy of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and
Ethnology, Harvard University. https://peabody.harvard.edu/ Request reproduction rights from https://peabody.harvard.edu/rights-and-reproductions
Object: Australian String Bag
Description: A rectangular bag with alternating light and darker brown stripes. Not quite 11 1/2 inches tall and 6 1/2 inches wide (29 x 16.5 cm)1 The body of the bag and string around the mouth are both Z twist. The carrying string is S-twist.
Dated to: Collected in 18962
Find location: Queensland, Australia
Material: Plant Fiber3
Stitch(es) used: Hourglass (As determined by Anne Marie Decker from photograph)
Inventory number: Object Number 96-25-70/49494
Current location: Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University
Link to museum catalog or other data:
https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/86397
Some sources in which more information can be found:
This first source includes a photo of one, very similar to the bag above, being worked.
Aboriginal string bags, nets and cordage by Alan West https://search.worldcat.org/title/225344552
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillybag
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- https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/86397 Accessed 3 September 2024 ↩︎
- https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/86397 Accessed 3 September 2024 ↩︎
- https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/86397 Accessed 3 September 2024 ↩︎