Comanche Parfleche

[DavidS]

Knocked this project out today because I was bored. The main body is rawhide but the lacing and straps are made from braintan. The designs are painting
on using pigments mixed with eggwhites and water.

A parfleche like this could either be used around camp or as a saddlebag slung over the saddle horn. This one would date around the 1830’s as far as design goes.

 

[Major Tom]

Wow! That's awesome looking!

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Beautiful

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Ive never heard the word b4 parfleche. Its basically a purse. Which all men used to have i think. Is it something for a specific purpose, like for dishes or weapons holding?

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Im a wood carver. Here is my hoop maker/ shield frame. The frame is held together with lashed electrical wire. The hoop is red plum. The frame is mostly golden oak. I did some development with traditional wood finishes you might be interested in.
I have never learned to use rawhide, but i would like to. I have made a few things with sticks and rocks lashed to them, but all modern material lashings, old fabric, thongs of leather, things like that. I think with rawhide i want something very mich like a sock with a hole in it, to go over the rock. I tried to make pitch glue two winters ago but i burned it.
Im pretty sure hoops were of nearly universal utility to the ancestors. They would be basket parts of course, also many other things

the old ways fascinate me, plz post more of your craft!

 

[DavidS]

Ive never heard the word b4 parfleche. Its basically a purse. Which all men used to have i think. Is it something for a specific purpose, like for dishes or weapons holding?

Nothing specifically, although this one will probably be for good storage. They were made in many shapes and sizes to store most everything. I’ve never seen one with a shoulder strap to carry purse fashion.

 

[Sherlock77]

Very nice bag! That's quite good for one day of work...

The idea of the messenger bag is coming back in fashion for men... Here is what I use as a camera bag... A vintage soft sided briefcase (I purchased it with a handle on top), I had a friend remove the handle, and make the strap... The bag itself is narrow enough to fit my mirrorless camera, probably wouldn't work with a much wider dSLR camera... And I do have to watch how much weight I put into it...

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Nothing specifically, although this one will probably be for good storage. They were made in many shapes and sizes to store most everything. I’ve never seen one with a shoulder strap to carry purse fashion.

I meant no disrespect

 

[DavidS]

I meant no disrespect

None perceived, taken, or given Skittlebisquit.

 

[DavidS]

Im a wood carver. Here is my hoop maker/ shield frame. The frame is held together with lashed electrical wire. The hoop is red plum. The frame is mostly golden oak. I did some development with traditional wood finishes you might be interested in.
I have never learned to use rawhide, but i would like to. I have made a few things with sticks and rocks lashed to them, but all modern material lashings, old fabric, thongs of leather, things like that. I think with rawhide i want something very mich like a sock with a hole in it, to go over the rock. I tried to make pitch glue two winters ago but i burned it.
Im pretty sure hoops were of nearly universal utility to the ancestors. They would be basket parts of course, also many other thingsView attachment 67493 the old ways fascinate me, plz post more of your craft!

Sounds like we should brainstorm some projects together. This is a rawhide quirt I braided up just the other month ago.

 

[DavidS]

Very nice bag! That's quite good for one day of work...

The idea of the messenger bag is coming back in fashion for men... Here is what I use as a camera bag... A vintage soft sided briefcase (I purchased it with a handle on top), I had a friend remove the handle, and make the strap... The bag itself is narrow enough to fit my mirrorless camera, probably wouldn't work with a much wider dSLR camera... And I do have to watch how much weight I put into it...

View attachment 67494

I must say, if I knew I’d carry a briefcase like that, I’d switch my job in a heartbeat!

 

[Skittlebisquit]

I guess that with rawhide, all the work is done with the matl soaking wet? And then it shrinks while drying...do you use a round nose knife to cut it? Thats what i saw in a book, it looks alot like a putty knife, a bit thicker, but with a round nose. Did you know that you can get storebought utility blades now that have a rounded tip? The utility knife is my go to for bark removal, that and the draw knife of course.
I want to wrap some of my tool handles to look like a samurai sword hilt. I found something in my research that might be of interest to you. There is a traditional craft (anglo)from the midwest, called wheat weaving. It is most often used to make decorations. This book had many pages of weave patterns, one weaves and braids the wheat stalks together. I copied out 10 pages or so, of just the patterns.
I also found great fun during the cold days of 2019 in trying very hard to draw celtic knot patterns. I would buy that 70 dollar book if i could afford it,one of those special library books that you just dont want to take back. Its done on a grid, i found it soothing. Different tradition i know, but satisfying just the same. Some ppl say that the old world was more interconnected by trade than the establishment says.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Can you believe someone threw this away? I found it on top of a pile of bulk stuff by the side of the road, two winters ago. Its not very big, it would make a strip about 7inches wide, its a toy i think for children, its marked west germany, so that means its from before the liberation.
It actually looks ez to reproduce. The heddle actually moves back and forth. Have you seen the belt loom that the ______, use? It is just a series of notched wood disks, the homespun goes through them, you wear it wrapped around the body and work on the belt. I think its important because, how else to do the hems on a blanket? Thats my theory of where it came from, children would make those and then give them up to use as hems for larger projects

There was a craft resurgance when i was a boy, many ppl say they rem doing tabby loom projects as children, like placemat size. In pioneer days they counted looms on the census, app nearly every household had them.
The pic is hard to see, if you want i can take more pics.

 

[Mia]

A parfleche like this could either be used around camp or as a saddlebag slung over the saddle horn. This one would date around the 1830’s as far as design goes.

Do you know that 'parfleche' is a french word that means 'by arrow' ? There are arrow type designs on your bag, and the technique you describe to paint the leather is called egg tempera.

 

[tree]

"A parfleche is a Native American rawhide container that is embellished by painting, incising, or both."

"The name "parfleche" was initially used by French fur traders in the region, and derives from the French language parer meaning "to parry" or "to defend", and flèche meaning "arrow". "Parfleche" was also used to describe tough rawhide shields, but later used primarily for these decorated rawhide containers. Different Indigenous peoples have their own names for these versatile packages, including ho'sēō'o (Cheyenne), bishkisché (Apsáalooke) and ho'úwoonó3 (Hinono'eino)"

Parfleche - Wikipedia

 

[Skittlebisquit]

Literally no idea what this is for, except i think its a tool. Maybe some sort of clamp? Its from 2018. I keep thinking its supposed to have holes thru both pieces or notches or something. It holds the leather piece so tight that you can lean back on it.
Im convinced that at one time the ancestors had something very much like a modern bungie cord. Polished sticks, with cordage permanently attached, like 6 ft long and folded in half, how else to build a frame of sticks?

 

[Skittlebisquit]

"A parfleche is a Native American rawhide container that is embellished by painting, incising, or both."

"The name "parfleche" was initially used by French fur traders in the region, and derives from the French language parer meaning "to parry" or "to defend", and flèche meaning "arrow". "Parfleche" was also used to describe tough rawhide shields, but later used primarily for these decorated rawhide containers. Different Indigenous peoples have their own names for these versatile packages, including ho'sēō'o (Cheyenne), bishkisché (Apsáalooke) and ho'úwoonó3 (Hinono'eino)"

Parfleche - Wikipedia

Thank you you are awesome tree. From etymology then is the parfleche derived from a buckler? Thats the short shield about the size of a coffe table book, that straps to the fore arm

 

[Skittlebisquit]

There is a trade language composite of
Pi ute, sho son ee, and other upper western nv ppls that had a special word for something like that, i forget. I think the pia ute did all the awesome basketry and the others did the leather work, i cant remember. Willow is ok for baskets, but plum is better, its a hardwood. Tends to crack tho. Latest stabil wood finish uses ink as a stain, several coats, then rub with paste wax, made from canni butr, coconut and beeswax. Without the ink stain it dries out.

 

[Skittlebisquit]

This one is a relic, not sure how old. Its either a slitter for leather or else its for linoleum flooring. Bronze blade, can you see the hook at the end?

Used to be you could buy the bronze at the metal yard, in sheet, or strips, but that was long ago.

 

[DavidS]

I guess that with rawhide, all the work is done with the matl soaking wet? And then it shrinks while drying...do you use a round nose knife to cut it? Thats what i saw in a book, it looks alot like a putty knife, a bit thicker, but with a round nose. Did you know that you can get storebought utility blades now that have a rounded tip? The utility knife is my go to for bark removal, that and the draw knife of course.
I want to wrap some of my tool handles to look like a samurai sword hilt. I found something in my research that might be of interest to you. There is a traditional craft (anglo)from the midwest, called wheat weaving. It is most often used to make decorations. This book had many pages of weave patterns, one weaves and braids the wheat stalks together. I copied out 10 pages or so, of just the patterns.
I also found great fun during the cold days of 2019 in trying very hard to draw celtic knot patterns. I would buy that 70 dollar book if i could afford it,one of those special library books that you just dont want to take back. Its done on a grid, i found it soothing. Different tradition i know, but satisfying just the same. Some ppl say that the old world was more interconnected by trade than the establishment says.

Not soaking wet but “cased” a degree of dampness that is. I’ve not yet bought a round knife, I’d love one though!!! I looked up wheat weaving, that seems like a fun skill to have! I love braiding just about anything.