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1958.137

ID Number: 1958.137
Category: Communication Artifacts
Sub-category: personal symbol
Item Type: religious
Item Name: pendant
Maker: Oneille, Antoine
Materials: METAL, SILVER
Measurements: overall: 11 1/4 in x 8 1/2 in
Description: trade silver cross; scalloped edges; wing, vine and leaf formations, etchings; reads "AO/DETROIT"
History: Introduced by the earliest French missionaries to North America, the cross and the crucifix were first distributed among the aboriginal converts, but during the fur trade era, they became a popular trade item, usually without religious significance. Antoine Oneille, whose mark is A.O. in a rectangle was born in Quebec some time after 1764, the son of Pierre Onel, wigmaker and Marie-Joseph Chandonne. He moved to Detroit towards the end of the 1700's, where he married Marie Catherine Chigot (Cicotte) in 1797 at St. Anne's Church. In Detroit he made "Silverworks" for John Askin, a merchant who traded with the Native people of Detroit and Sandwich. This cross is one of two known pieces of trade silver bearing the mark "Detroit"
Collection Name: Museum Windsor
Subject (Fre): Y

Subjects

Askin, John person

Natives subject

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