Historic Penobscot Peaked Cap

Description:

Historic Penobscot Peaked Cap, c. second quarter 19th century, belonging to Molly Molasses (1775-1867),red trade cloth with blue trade cloth liner, decorated with yellow, blue, and green silk applique, with double C-scroll designs done in 1/16 white glass seed beads, with silk ribbon drops and larger white bead edging from the peak, sold with a photograph of Molly Molasses taken by S.W. Sawyer, Bangor, Maine, 1865, ht. 15 1/2, wd. 13 in.

Provenance: Dr. Frank T. Siebert Collection.

Exhibitions: Four Mollys: Women of the Dawn, Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, Maine; Uncommon Threads, Wabanaki Textile, Clothing, and Costume, Maine State Museum, Augusta, Maine, May 2009 May 2010.

Literature: Illustrated in American Indian Art Magazine, Summer 2004, pp. 64, 65, Dr. Siebert: "I've traced the Molly Molasses cap I have now, which I bought from an antique dealer in Philadelphia in 1939. It came from the Indian collection of the estate of a man who was a federal government Indian agent or commissioner for Grover Cleveland during his administration, the cap was purchased by him at Old Town when on a visit, 1880-82."
Estimate $40,000-60,000

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