eider duck blanket

unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist

eider duck blanket, mid 1800s–1895

Where object was made: Greenland

Material/technique: eider duck skin

Dimensions:
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 195.5 x 142.5 cm
Object Length/Width (Length x Width): 56 1/8 x 76 15/16 in

Credit line: Gift of Lewis Lindsay Dyche

Accession number: 2007.0574

Not on display

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Label texts

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

Bird skins were a particularly resourceful material used by the Inuit for the construction of clothing. The eider duck has very thick feathers covering its warm down that enable it to dive in icy waters. The Inuit often used these duck skins to make clothing and blankets which were much warmer than seal skin and could be used when caribou or other thick furs were not available. Both sides of this blanket are made from eider duck skins that have had the contour feathers plucked out, leaving only the thick, soft down underneath. The front of the blanket is made from the skins of male ducks and uses the natural color patterns of the birds’ feathers to create the scalloped stripes in the center and the green, black, and white decorative border.

Google Art Project

Exhibition Label: "Climate Change at the Poles," Jan-2009, Kate Meyer, Jennifer Talbott, and Angela Watts Bird skins were a particularly resourceful material used by the Inuit for the construction of clothing. The eider duck has very thick feathers covering its warm down that enable it to dive in the icy waters. The Inuit often used these duck skins to make clothing and blankets which were much warmer than seal skin and could be used when caribou or other thick furs were not available. Both sides of this blanket are made from eider duck skins that have had the contour feathers plucked out, leaving only the thick, soft down underneath. The front of the blanket is made from the skins of male ducks and uses the natural color patterns of the birds’ feathers to create the scalloped stripes in the center and the green, black, and white decorative border.