Original (right) and restored (left) Middle Mississippi Figurine
One of the most interesting figures of this type is the fragmentary top of a water bottle from Cahokia found by Mr. Gregory Perino of Belleville, Illinois. The opening of the bottle is made where the face of the figure would be. The hairdo is shown in detail, including all of the features mentioned above except that on this figure the hair is bobbed all around the head. The novel feature of this figure is the knot of hair shown in detail with the attached appendage indicating, in this case at least, that the pendant which trails down behind is not of hair, but something else.
When the early explorers came through the southeastern United States they found Middle Mississippi Indians still living there. Because the accounts of chroniclers of DeSoto’s expedition and the early French settlers of Louisiana are especially full, we are thus able to fill in our knowledge of the appearance of these Indians. From these sources, we find that headbands were commonly worn and the hair was often knotted on top of the head with “the tails of animals or their entire skins fastened to the hair....”[2]
Putting these fragments of evidence together, we have been able to construct a figure representing a Middle Mississippi man. The hair styling consists of the main features shown in the statuettes and figures. The head band is decorated with a circle and cross, a design found painted on Middle Mississippi pottery and engraved on pendants. A coon tail is attached to the hairknot on the crown of the head. In the man’s hand is a string of cut shell beads to which is attached a gorget (breast ornament) made of sea shell. At his side is a robe made of turkey feathers.
By these means we can at last answer the Museum visitor’s and the anthropologist’s questions, “How did they look?”—“How did Middle Mississippi people dress?”
SCALAMANDRE TEXTILES IN THE ART GALLERY
Beginning October 10th, the Illinois State Museum Art Gallery under the direction of Frances S. Ridgely, Curator of Art, features an exhibition of textiles used in the restoration of pre-revolutionary homes. From among the many fabrics which Franco Scalamandré has reproduced for restoration of historic American houses, the Scalamandré Museum of Textiles has assembled this exhibition of woven materials of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Among the 17th century homes are those of the two noted Quakers, “Pennsbury Manor”, the country estate of William Penn, and the John Bowne House, Flushing, New York. The Hudson River Valley Dutch era is shown in “Philipse Castle”, North Tarrytown, New York. New England is represented by the modest cottage of Paul Revere, Boston, Massachusetts. The Howland House, Plymouth, Massachusetts, is reputed to be the only house still standing where once was heard the foot treads of the Pilgrims, and there is the famous Buckman Tavern, Lexington, Massachusetts, which was headquarters of the Minute Men, April 19, 1775, the night that ushered in the War of Independence.
As the colonies increased in population and wealth in the succeeding century, the homes became more pretentious in their furnishings. The textiles used in the 18th century homes were the beautiful silk damasks, brocatelles, lampases, brocades, velvets, and toiles.
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, is represented by the Governor’s Palace, the abode of the royal governors appointed by the King; the Wythe House, residence of George Wythe, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and the Raleigh Tavern, the most famous hostelry of its time.