Early Heart Shaped (c. Mid 19th Century) Beaded Iroquois Pin Cushion door buzzer That key is long gone

That key is long gone

On its 32 sides are the spelled out numbers 1-10 and pictures representing each letter of the alphabet

perhaps original to the making

And with that soulful intensity perfectly enhanced/further focused by the sparse but specific painted details: gold earrings and brooch and rings

Early Heart Shaped (c. Mid 19th Century) Beaded Iroquois Pin Cushion door buzzer That key is long goneI don't think photos with no sense of scale do justice to this one those beads are tiny, and the pin cushion relatively small, so it feels very fine in hand. And it is definitely an early one, c. 1850s I believe. There is a great blog devoted to early Iroquois (including Seneca) and Wabanaki pin cushions, including many heart shaped examples along the lines of this one, which I believe is Iroquois. Wear to the sides as evident it does appear it was