Original Vintage Native American Parfleche Box

Antique English bakery "Flour" bin or storage bin, with painted faux wood grain. Would be a great pet food holder to keep mice out and the smell of dog food o...

Antique English mercantile or country store, or bakery "Flour" bin with painted faux wood grain. IDEA container for dog food, Makes for a great prop for your ...

Collection of (3) Native American Folk Art Children's Toy Canoes most likely made between the 1940's and 1950's. Two of the Folk Art Children's Canoes were made from Birchbark, while...

Not only is this Rustic American furniture great looking, but it also happens to be very comfortable without seat cushions. Typically, when we find old rustic mountain cabin furniture, it has been well used and is in need of immediate surgery, and we're usually too late. Most often this style of rustic furniture was used outdoors or in a screened-in porch, but there are no telltale signs of water damage. All we can say is that whoever had this cabin style table and chairs must have really loved them, for the condition is unbelievable for something at least 70 years old and never restored. The quality level in which this rustic mountain style...

With a distinct hand, the painter has affectionately captured this child's delicate spirit. Highly detailed and of the utmost of skill, this painter showcases his/her abilities quite...

With a distinct hand, the painter has affectionately captured this child's delicate spirit. Highly detailed and of the utmost of skill, this painter showcases his/her abilities quite...

Antique Sioux (Native American/Plains Indian) Parfleche in a box form constructed of rawhide and intricately painted in an abstract design with hourglass and geometric motifs with natural pigments and red trade cloth. At the time this was created, the Sioux Indians were nomadic and are associated with vast areas of the Great Plains of the United States including present-day North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana. Authenticity is guaranteed. Box is in very good condition - please contact us for a detailed condition report. Parfleches are rawhide containers which were fundamental to the Plains way of life. Functioning essentially as protective travelling suitcases, they enabled the nomadic tribes to effectively pursue buffalo herds and migrate between seasonal camps. So critical were they to a nomadic existence that over 40 tribes are known to have historically produced parfleches. Collectively, these tribes inhabited an area which encompassed the entirety of the Plains, as well as the parts of the Southwest, the Transmontane and Western Plateau regions. Parfleches were, out of necessity, robust and versatile objects. They were designed to carry and protect within them anything from medicinal bundles to seasonal clothing or food. In fact, it was because of the containers’ robusticity and variety that parfleches earned their name in the Anglo world. Derived from parer (to parry or turn aside) and fleche (arrow), the word parfleche was coined by 17th century French Canadian voyageurs and used to describe indigenous objects made from rawhide. Despite their common utilitarian function, parfleches served as one of the major mediums through which Plains Indian tribes could develop their long-standing tradition of painting. In fact, it is in large part due to the parfleche that tribal style emerged. Even though parfleche painting developed simultaneously with beading and weaving, painting as an artistic tradition held particular importance in tribal culture. Believed to have evolved from tattooing, it had always been used as a conduit through which tribal and individual identity could be expressed. As such, many tribeswomen were deeply committed, some even religiously, to decorating their parfleche either with incised or painted motifs that were significant to them and/or the tribe. For some tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the decorative processes which surrounded parfleche production were sacred. For others, it seems that their parfleche designs shared an interesting artistic dialogue with their beadwork, indicating a more casual exchange of design motifs. This particular relationship can be seen in Crow parfleche...

A beautiful contemporary Tibetan round beaded box incorporating thousands of turquoise glass beads and a circle of shells on the lid handstitched onto a black...

Hand tooled chocolate brown leather box from Africa. Very fine workmanship with tribal traditional West African symbols on dark brown leather. Tuareg s...

This spice box comes for the Island of Nias, Indonesia. Dating to the early 20th Century it was crafted from a single block of wood. It features a sliding lid, has an elegant wood te...

This teak storage box comes for the Island of Java, Indonesia. Dating to the Mid-20th Century it was crafted from a single block of teak. It features ...

This beautiful box was hand carved into two pieces from Cumarú wood (also known as Brasilian teak), there are no screws or nails and no assemblies. The wood is brown with visible gra...