Show & Tell Friday...from Indians to Ancestors!

It is time for Show & Tell Friday.

Thanks to our hostess Cindy at http://www.romantichome.blogspot.com/

Be sure and check out her great blog and see who else is showing and telling this week.

I thought I would show and tell some Iroquois bead work "whimsies" that

I inherited from my GG Grandfather's side of the family.

They are done on black velvet with red linen trim and linen linings.

One is like a French cap ( with the bird on it) and the other is a little purse.

Great article on these types of pieces here;

http://www.kimritter.com/weblog/?p=228

My Great Great Grandfather came from Switzerland, mined gold in the Klondike during

the gold rush and traveled alot. With some of  his money he started the first electrical water

powered power plant

for electricity on the Sacramento River in Dunsmuir CA.

He had the some of the equipment for it shipped around the horn to be picked up in San Francisco.

His name was Hermann Scherrer.

In the small beaded purse we found this note written in French, dated 1928, that leaves certain monies to people  by him.

Several years ago I took these to a charity appraisal event . Harry Rinker ( from TV shows etc.) was

the guest appraiser.  And I got both items appraised, not that I would part with them.

I can imagine what trip or when they migrated across the US that they might have picked these up from the

Indians .

I found the old curved glass frame at a garage sale years ago for $10, it is a great way to display them.

The bead work is just amazing and remarkably for being well over 100 years old they are

in really good shape.

The colors still good on all, even the back ground fabric, which is usually faded and more worn

on pieces I have seen in Antique shops.

Have seen plenty of the little bags but never one of these caps.