What is a parfleche in art?

What is a parfleche in art?

What is it? This object is a parfleche (pronounced: “par-flesh”), which is a rawhide container used to carry objects. It was made by an artist from a Northern Plains tribe, and has been with the Denver Art Museum since 1953.

What does the word parfleche?

1 : a raw hide soaked in lye to remove the hair and dried. 2 : an article (such as a bag or case) made of parfleche.

What is a parfleche box?

Parfleche is a folded carrying bag made by the Plains Indians. Parfleche is traditionally made out of rawhide and decorated with geometric designs. The rawhide would be prepared by cleaning and removing the hair from the skin. Parfleches were the “suitcases” of the Plains Indian tribes.

Which is the best description of a parfleche?

Definition of parfleche 1 : a raw hide soaked in lye to remove the hair and dried 2 : an article (such as a bag or case) made of parfleche

What was the purpose of the parfleche tool?

Colourful and beautifully decorated, parfleche is considered as much a piece of art as it was a practical tool. Parfleche (also parflêche) are containers made of rawhide that were used by a variety of Plains Indigenous peoples to carry their personal belongings during hunting trips or while migrating from one location to another.

How did the American Indians make the parfleche?

The parfleche bag, or trunk (valise), was assembled by folding the two ends of a long, rectangular piece of rawhide over to meet and form a kind of envelope. The two flaps were thonged together, and the whole was used in tandem with another, similar parfleche, one strapped to each side of a horse.

What kind of artwork is in a parfleche?

Parfleche. In contemporary culture, both women and men make them. The bags are traditionally decorated with a distinctive style of graphic artwork, usually depicting landscape features such as rivers and mountains, and even serving as maps.