A rawhide pouch, constructed from buffalo, which is painted on both sides with stacked registers of blue and red painted diamonds, which are outlined in brown. The pigments appear o be natural, while the bag form itself appears to be a native-made recycle of a cut-down mid-19th century elliptical case.

Such recycles are quite common, especially with older more antiquated parfleche forms. The possibility that this could be formerly an old Sioux elliptical case is in part reinforced by the fact that this pouch was collected by Cyril Turner, a collector who authored the popular 1973 book, Across the Medicine Line: The Epic Confrontation Between Sitting Bull and the North-West Mounted Police.

In this case, a larger parfleche form was trimmed, folded and stitched with sinew along the newly created side seams. These recycles became particularly prevalent towards the end of the 19th century, when buffalo hide was scarce yet highly sought after.

Ex Cyril Frank Turner, CANADA (1922-2009)

13” tall and 13” wide

#51181