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Parfleche bag

Ponca(?) parfleche bag
ca. 1830
Oklahoma
Buffalo hide, beads, sinew
46 x 41 x 9 cm
Collected by T. R. Roddy
6/4077

Fully incised parfleche containers are quite rare, and most are attributed to the Crow or to Plateau tribes. As seen here, these containers are made from heavy buffalo skin and constructed so that the darkly pigmented layer of the hide forms the outer surface of the parfleche. A design is made by cutting and scrapping away portions of the outer hide to reveal a lighter colored layer beneath. This incised parfleche, with its striking design motif, is thought to be central or possibly eastern Plains. Like most other incised parfleches, it dates to the first half of the 19th century.

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