2 Drawings (visual works) (charcoal on grey paper, framed, 5.75 x 8.25 inches in 13.5 x 16.25 inch frame; 5.75 x 9.25 inches in 13.5 x 17.25 inch frame)
The collection consists of two (2) charcoal drawings by Charles Bird King. The drawings depict Moanahonga (Great Walker), Iowa and Sharitarish (Wicked Chief), Pawnee, and were likely studies for paintings later completed by King.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or National Anthropological Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Biographical Note:
Charles Bird King (1785–1862) was an American portrait artist, best known for his portrayals of Native American leaders and tribesmen. He studied portraiture under Edward Savage in New York and later with Benjamin West at the Royal Academy in London. Upon his return to America in 1812, he spent several years traveling the East Coast in search of portrait commissions. In 1819 he opened a studio and gallery in Washington, where he painted many prominent political figures including John Quincy Adams, John Calhoun, Henry Clay, James Monroe, and Daniel Webster. Commissioned by the federal government, King painted more than one hundred portraits of Indian delegates, representing at least twenty tribes, who visited the capital from 1821 to 1842. He exhibited the portraits at the Smithsonian Institution until the paintings were destroyed by fire in 1865.
Local Numbers:
NAA INV 09123400
NAA INV 09123500
NAA 2023-04
Publication Note:
The drawings were published in:
Cosentino, Andrew J. (1977) The Paintings of Charles Bird King. Washington, DC: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution.
Viola, Herman J. (1976) The Indian Legacy of Charles Bird King. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
Provenance:
The drawings are two of sixteen charcoal portraits of Native leaders discovered in 1974 among family papers by Bayard LeRoy King, a descendant of Edward King, second cousin of Charles Bird King. They were donated to the National Anthropological Archives by Bayard LeRoy King in 1981.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.
Rights:
Contact the repository for terms of use.
Genre/Form:
Works of art
Drawings
Portraits
Citation:
Charles Bird King drawings, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution
W. C. Sturtevant's notes on paintings seen at Redwood Library, 8/66 indicate this original is identified on each as Keokuk. -To be followed up in 1970 - see W. C. Sturtevant.
Painting seen by MCB at University [of Pa.] Museum exhibition, "The Noble Savage," 1958, under title, "Indian Chief in Dress [of] Ceremony," credited to Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode Island. However, this painting is not listed in the "Catalogue of Pictures, Statuary & C., belonging to Redwood Library, September 1, 1885." The latter Catalogue lists this title for Number 20, a different picture (BAE Negative 4696). No painting of this title is listed in the Checklist J. C. Ewers, "Charles Bird King, Painter of Indian Visitors to the Nation's Capital," U. S. Nat. Museum Annual Report for 1953, Washington, 1954, pages 463-473.
Copy from oil painting by C.B. King (1824) in Redwood Library. The original painting was in the Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode Island, until May 1970, when it was sold at auction by that library at the Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York City. The identity of the current owner is not known. Published in "Pageant of America", Vol II, p.117 with legend: "Pushmataha, from the portrait by Charles Bird King (1785-1862) in the Redwood Library, Newport, RI."
Biographical / Historical:
Born: 1764 in Noxubee County, Mississippi. Died: 1824 in Washington, DC.
Local Numbers:
BAE GN.1092 B
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Pushmataha born 1764, Noxubee County, Mississippi; died 1824, Washington, D.C. Buried in Congressional Cemetery. For contemporary obituary see clipping from the National Journal, January 4, 1825, mounted in Volume II of Indian Miscellany, Rare Book Room, Bureau of American Ethnology Library. See also biographical sketch in Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 30.
Same subject in Volume I, 1838 Edition. Mc Kenney & Hall (Bureau of American Ethnology Library Cat. Number 574) has caption, Push-Ma-Ta-Ha / Chactan Warrior, and, written around the base of the bust is: On stone by J. W. Gear from a Painting by C. B. King. Printed by C. Hallmandel.
Local Numbers:
OPPS NEG.1092 B
Local Note:
Black and white copy negative
Topic:
Indians of North America -- Southern states Search this
Half breed. Born about 1765. See biographical sketch in Handbook of American Indians, Volume I, page 841.
Local Numbers:
OPPS NEG.1119 B
Local Note:
Poor negative. See 1119-B (R). New negative made directly from Folio Edition. (1858 edition ? Library copy marked 187?) Slightly different version-better artistic detail - no paint on face, etc.
Same subject in Volume 2, 1842 edition Mc Kenney & Hall (BAE library cat. Number 575) carries same legend as this plus: Published by F. W. Greenough, Philada./Drawn Printed & Coloured at I. T. Bowen's Lithographic Establishment No. 94 Walnut St./Entered according to an act of Congress in the year 1838 by F. W. Greenough, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Penna.
Black and white copy negative
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
Shakopee "Six" in Sioux ! The Chippewa sub-chief at Leech Lake early 1800's; rode in canoe with Jos. Nicollet 1836 from Ft. Snelling to Leech. His name is Nakotah, Sioux for "six", deriving from Sioux-Chippewa intermarriage during infrequent peace festivities. The town Shakopee, Minnesota, in homesite of his famous Sioux namesake. CAZ
Local Numbers:
OPPS NEG.431 B
Local Note:
Print from National Museum marked "Jack-o-pa, means "The Sea" or "The Six", painted by C.B. King from drawing by Lewis- Washington, 1822. N. M. has negative also: Number 31 860-d.
Photographs collected by Marjorie Meriweather Post relating to NAtive Americans. They include images of Post's home at Camp Topridge, Geronimo, Buffalo Bill Cody, Native chiefs and US officials at Pine Ridge in 1891, and Princess Angeline, daughter of Chief Seattle. Additionally, there are lithographs of Caa-tou-see and Shin-Ga-Ba-Wossinis, and a B. Picart engraving of Native Americans circling a burial mound and a newspaper clipping ("Out of Human Skin") in a frame made from a squirrel pelt.
Biographical/Historical note:
Marjorie Meriweather Post (1887-1973) was a Washington, D.C., businesswoman, philanthropist, and collector of decorative art objects. Her father Charles W. Post was the owner of Postup Cereal Company, later General Foods Corporation. In 1973, Marjorie Post's philanthropy earned her the first ever James Smithson Society Medal, the Smithsonian Institution's highest benefactor award. After her death, Post willed her Hillwood estate to the Smithsonian along with her American Native American collection at Camp Topridge.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 75-46
Location of Other Archival Materials:
The National Anthropological Archives holds the Marjorie Merriweather Post papers (MS 7278).
The Smithsonian Institution Archives holds the records of Post's Hillwood Estate, 1960-1976 (SIA RS00740).