Crow, northern Plains
1860s
Rawhide, natural pigments
Height 8" (20.3 cm); width 9 1/2" (24.1 cm)
Provenance: Wisconsin Trade
Medicine packets were used by Plains healers and ceremonial specialists to store the sacred materials, herbs, and objects required for healing and ritual practice, the parfleche exterior protecting the contents while the painted surface encoded symbolic meaning accessible to those who understood the visual language of the maker's tradition. Crow parfleche painting of the 1860s deploys a bold geometric vocabulary in which diamond and rhombus forms carry specific symbolic associations within the Crow ceremonial tradition. The early 20th century museum label retained with this packet provides a documented institutional holding history predating its entry into the trade network.
This packet is painted with a diamond motif in red and blue against the natural rawhide ground, the geometric composition covering the front face of the folded packet in the manner characteristic of Crow parfleche production of the period. The rawhide has aged to a warm pale tone with the pigment well preserved, and the original tie cords remain intact. Provenance traces to Wisconsin Trade, with an early 20th century museum label present.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Crow, northern Plains
1860s
Rawhide, natural pigments
Height 8" (20.3 cm); width 9 1/2" (24.1 cm)
Provenance: Wisconsin Trade
Medicine packets were used by Plains healers and ceremonial specialists to store the sacred materials, herbs, and objects required for healing and ritual practice, the parfleche exterior protecting the contents while the painted surface encoded symbolic meaning accessible to those who understood the visual language of the maker's tradition. Crow parfleche painting of the 1860s deploys a bold geometric vocabulary in which diamond and rhombus forms carry specific symbolic associations within the Crow ceremonial tradition. The early 20th century museum label retained with this packet provides a documented institutional holding history predating its entry into the trade network.
This packet is painted with a diamond motif in red and blue against the natural rawhide ground, the geometric composition covering the front face of the folded packet in the manner characteristic of Crow parfleche production of the period. The rawhide has aged to a warm pale tone with the pigment well preserved, and the original tie cords remain intact. Provenance traces to Wisconsin Trade, with an early 20th century museum label present.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
