Northern Plains
1880s
Rawhide, natural pigments
Height 30" (76.2 cm); width 14 1/2" (36.8 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Montana
Parfleche packets were among the most visually ambitious objects produced by northern Plains women, the geometric designs painted in earth pigments on rawhide before folding and drying so that the color set permanently into the surface. The large format of this packet, at 30 inches when unfolded, indicates it was made to hold substantial contents, likely robes, clothing, or ceremonial materials of importance to the family that owned it. Northern Plains parfleche painting of the 1880s represents the mature period of the tradition, when the geometric vocabulary of each tribal group had developed its most fully articulated regional character.
This packet is painted with a bold polychrome composition of diamond, triangle, and geometric field forms in blue, green, orange, yellow, and red against a white rawhide ground, the design covering the full face of the folded packet. The scale and color range of the painting give the piece a strong visual presence, the geometric composition balanced and deliberately organized across the available surface. Provenance traces to a private collection in Montana.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Northern Plains
1880s
Rawhide, natural pigments
Height 30" (76.2 cm); width 14 1/2" (36.8 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Montana
Parfleche packets were among the most visually ambitious objects produced by northern Plains women, the geometric designs painted in earth pigments on rawhide before folding and drying so that the color set permanently into the surface. The large format of this packet, at 30 inches when unfolded, indicates it was made to hold substantial contents, likely robes, clothing, or ceremonial materials of importance to the family that owned it. Northern Plains parfleche painting of the 1880s represents the mature period of the tradition, when the geometric vocabulary of each tribal group had developed its most fully articulated regional character.
This packet is painted with a bold polychrome composition of diamond, triangle, and geometric field forms in blue, green, orange, yellow, and red against a white rawhide ground, the design covering the full face of the folded packet. The scale and color range of the painting give the piece a strong visual presence, the geometric composition balanced and deliberately organized across the available surface. Provenance traces to a private collection in Montana.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
