Pink Lady Slippers (4) of Quillwork on BirchBark Box,by Paul St. John, Mohawk

Description

Four rare Pink Lady Slipper orchids of porcupine quill blossom on this birch bark box by Paul St John, Mohawk craftsman.  Here in the near boreal forests of Maine these rare flowers appear as if by magic in seemingly random spots in the forest.  - I know of four locations near my Maine home where these gorgeous flowers arrive and thrive each spring.  Paul St John has added four of these beauties to an oval birch bark box.
This oval birch bark container is 6.25" long, 4.25" across at widest/middle point, and 5" high.  It has tidal sweetgrass at it's top and bottom rim and also on the bottom edge of the overhanging lid and the rim around the lid's top ... where the overhang to the lid is attached.  The birch bark has natural color variations (the outer white bark is on inside of box).  There is a natural white w/darker end tips porcupine quill border around the outer edge of the box's lid.
Cypripedium reginae
, the Pink Lady Slipper Orchid is also known as the showy lady's slipper, pink-and-white lady's-slipper, or the queen's lady's-slipper, and is a rare lady's-slipper orchid native to northern North America. Although never common, this plant has vanished from much of its historical range due to habitat loss
Paul St. John now lives in Maine.  He is an enrolled Mohawk tribal member.   He grew up on the Mohawk lands in New York, his father's homeland.  His mother is Passamaquoddy/MicMac/Maliseet - When I saw his work I knew immediately I needed to offer his baskets, quill boxes, dolls and more.
Paul is shown in slideshow above with 2 of his works - one of them is a coiled sweetgrass basket with a cardinal.
Paul has made many quill animals, fox, bear, beaver, deer, wolf, moose - and even more birds, cardinal, eagle, loon, blue jay, hawk, hummingbird, great blue heron, chickadee. I am forgetting some I am sure  - see if your favorite is in this ebay store.
He not only does sweetgrass coil baskets and porcupine quill work on birch bark -- but also amazing dolls, Iroquois beadwork, MicMac beadwork,  great moccasins, knife sheaths, medicine bags and so much more!  He is truly a man of many (many many) talents!
Watch this store for more of his pieces.  Can't wait to see what he is going to create next.