Collections Spotlight with Karen Ann Hoffman

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and through the reopening afterward, the Coe Center partnered with First American Art Magazine to present an interactive Zoom series in which Native artists discussed artworks in the Coe Collections. Collections Spotlight brought deep dives into objects from the Coe collection to the public from the artist’s perspective. These events were free and open to the public.

Karen Ann Hoffman is a member of the Oneida Nation and lives in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. She studied Iroquois raised beadwork with Samuel Thomas and Lorna Hill and now teaches the technique to others.

The National Endowment for the Arts named her a Heritage Fellow in 2020. Her artwork is in the collections of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, and the Iroquois Museum. Hoffman earned her master’s degree in human development from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.

Hoffman starts by discussing how this maker’s intention is unknown but can be considered and learned from. She calls this object part of an “early classical period” of Haudenosaunee souvenir art. She thinks that might be Seneca or Eastern Haudenosaunee. Hoffman notes the linear beaded designs, maybe indicating the western side of the Confederacy, and from earlier beaded forms.

Hoffman discusses how the design is similar to Haudenosaunee pottery. The glass seed beads are small, size 20s, and seem to be on silk ribbon with hide. The interior of the bag is lined with bright fabric. Hoffman notes that the two sides of the bag have different beaded designs. Bess Murphy (Curator, Coe Center for the Arts) adds that the side stitching of the bag splits for a flap. Hoffman points out the geometry in the design, such as the blue-lined beads.

Hoffman talks about progress from the early classical period, around 1800, to the curvilinear designs that began in the early 1820s. Angles, zigzag, and flat work were still used, but on new materials like velvet, which became a common material in the 1820s-30s. The heart shape pattern on the verso of the object also appears from the 1820s.

The double spruce designs could have been done with either two needle applique or a single needle. Time tells what technique is used when they fall apart. Hoffman thinks the bag was done with the two-needle technique as they appear tacked down.

Hoffman talks about the Haudenosaunee people, their homelands, and the temporality of art and designs. She suggests that this bag may be Tuscarora or Mohawk. She notes the balance of form, positive and negative space, symmetry and dimension.

This object is a wall pocket, made for tourist trade, and likely from around Niagara Falls. She notes photographs of Tuscarora women selling similar work in the area can be found in a book called A Cherished Curiosity: The Souvenir Beaded Bag in Historic Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Art. This object is functional and is designed to appeal to the market; it would have been used in Victorian homes. Hoffman notes that chintz, an inexpensive fabric compared to velvet, is used on the object.

Hoffman calls this a small whimsy, which was made to be a souvenir item. She says it is stuffed with sawdust and was likely made in the last quarter of the 19th century. Similar to the other whimsies she discussed, this object would have been sold at Victorian markets along the Eastern Seaboard, like those at Niagara Falls. The beaded work likely uses Czechoslovakian glass beads, which are slightly larger (around size 8-9), metal sequins, and velvet material with chintz. The bigger beads can build up the shape, while smaller beads detail designs. This object would have been used for holding hat pins.

Hoffman also answers a question about a paper pattern seen under the material used to make the designs, and she notes how the paper may be meant to be seen. She answers some questions, such as whether there are different stuffing materials for a raised effect; Hoffman says there is mostly the stacked bead technique.