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Saturday, April 15, 2017

Musees de Beaux-Art (Rennes) - Mi'kmaq Model Canoe & Paddle (1794)

From this page on artifacts from New France is a rare glimpse of an old Mi'kmaq style birchbark canoe model.  The model was assumed to be collected by Christophe-Paul de Robien (1698-1756), a French enthnographer and historian. After the French Revolution, his personal collection inherited by his descendants was seized by the state and distributed to what became the Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes. During the inventory process, it was inscribed with a date of 1794 but the original construction date is unknown.


Modèle de canot avec rame
Inv 794.1.782
Museum of Fine Arts     RENNES

Accompanying the canoe is a single paddle with a pole grip and a decorated blade. Although faded, it appears that half the blade was painted with a red pigment creating a simple "yin/yang" effect.


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