Detail View: McKenney and Hall: History of the Indian Tribes: Wa-kawn-ha-ka, a Winnebago chief

80

80

portraits

print

History of the Indian Tribes of North America

collective title

Wa-kawn-ha-ka, a Winnebago chief

inscribed title

14.25 x 7.10 in (36.20 x 18.03 cm) on sheet 20.10 x 14.40 in (51.05 x 36.58 cm)

dimensions

rag paper

support

color lithograph

lower center: WA_KAWN_HA_KA, / A WINNEBAGO CHIEF. / PUBLISHED BY J. T. BOWEN, PHILAD.A / Drawn, Printed & Coloured at J. T. Bowen's Lithographic Establishment, N.o 94, Walnut St. / Entered according to act of Congress in the Year 1841 by J. T. Bowen, in the Clerks Office of the District Court of the Eastern Dis.t of Penn.a

King, Charles Bird, 1785-1862

1785-1862

American

personal name

painter

Inman, Henry, 1801-1846

1801-1846

American

personal name

painter

Lewis, James Otto, 1799-1858

1799-1858

American

personal name

painter

1841

Prairie du Chien (Wis.)

creation site

Archives and Rare Books Library, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

current repository

ARB E77 .M13 Vol. 2

call number

80

plate number

80

standard number

Art, American--19th century

realism

American

Feathers

Ribbons

Robes

Indians of North America--19th century

Indians in art

Trade cloth

Headdresses

Prairie du Chien, Treaty of (1825)

Winnebago (Hotcangara)

The Rattlesnake (Wah-kon-ze-kaw)

Hides and skins--Rattlesnakes

McKenney, Thomas Loraine, 1785-1859 & Hall, James, 1793-1868. History of the Indian Tribes of North America. Philadelphia: Frederick W. Greenough, 1838-1844.

larger entity

ART WORKS Plate 52 of The Aboriginal Port-Folio (1835-1838) indicates that the original portrait of The Rattlesnake (Wah-kon-ze-kaw) was painted by James Otto Lewis (1799-1858) at the Treaty of Prairie du Chien, held at Prairie du Chien (Wis.) in 1825. Horan (Horan, 1986, p. 286) indicates that the original or a portrait of Snake Skin (Wa-kaun-ha-ka) was painted by Lewis at the Treaty of Fond du Lac, held at Fond du Lac (Minn.) in 1826. Wan-ca-ha ga, or Snake's Skin is listed as a signatory of the Treaty of Prairie du Chien (Kappler, 1904, Vol. 2, p. 254); he is not listed as a signatory of the Treaty of Fond du Lac. The portrait is not listed in the catalog of the Lewis Indian Gallery. Location of original unknown. The original Lewis portrait of The Rattlesnake (Wah-kon-ze-kaw) was copied by Athanasius Ford in Washington, D.C. in 1826. The copy is listed as No. 20 in the Catalogue of Indian Paintings Belonging to the Government Collection which appeared in William J. Rhees' 1859 Guide to the Smithsonian Institution: "WAA-KANN-SEE-KA, Rattlesnake - Winnebago (Ford from Lewis, 1826)" (Viola, 1976, p. 143). This painting was destroyed in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. The original Lewis portrait of The Rattlesnake (Wah-kon-ze-kaw) was also copied by Charles Bird King (1785-1862) in Washington, D.C. in 1826 (Cosentino: 467). The copy is listed as No. 61 in the Catalogue of Indian Paintings Belonging to the Government Collection which appeared in William J. Rhees' 1859 Guide to the Smithsonian Institution: "WA-HE-KANS-HE-KAI - Winnebago)" (Viola, 1976, p. 144). This painting was destroyed in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. King also painted a portrait of Snake Skin (Wa-kaun-ha-ka) ca. 1837 (Cosentino: 470). This painting is listed as No. 127 in the Catalogue of Indian Paintings Belonging to the Government Collection which appeared in William J. Rhees' 1859 Guide to the Smithsonian Institution: "WAU-KAUN-HAH-KAW, Snake Skin -- Of the Day-kau-ray family" (Viola, 1976, p. 145). This painting was destroyed in the Smithsonian fire of 1865. A copy of King's painting of Snake Skin (Wa-kaun-ha-ka) by Henry Inman (1801-1846), formerly in the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (Peabody Number: 82-51-10\28224), is in the D. Harold Byrd, Jr. Collection (Viola, 1983, Plate 22). A copy of the Ford portrait after Lewis of Wa-kawn (The Snake), Winnebago Chief, was painted by Henry Inman (1801-1846). This painting is in the Peabody Museum of Archeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (Peabody Number: 82-51-10\28226).

PRINTS A lithograph based on the Lewis portrait of The Rattlesnake (Wah-kon-ze-kaw) appears only in the Philadelphia, 1835-1838 edition of The Aboriginal Port-Folio. (Reese: 52) Lithographs based on the Inman copy of the King portrait of Snake Skin (Wa-kaun-ha-ka) appear in the following editions of McKenney, Thomas Loraine, 1785-1859, and Hall, James, 1793-1868. The History of the Indian Tribes of North America: Philadelphia: F. W. Greenough, 1838-1844. Philadelphia: J. T. Bowen, 1848-1850. The similarity of the portraits of The Rattlesnake in the Aboriginal Port-Folio and Snake Skin in McKenney and Hall suggest that they are the same individual and are based ultimately on the original Lewis portrait. This is the view of Ewers (Ewers, 1954, p. 472).

REFERENCES Cosentino, Andrew J. The Paintings of Charles Bird King (1785-1862). Washington, D.C.: National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, 1977. p. 184. Nos. 467, 470. Ewers, John C. "Charles Bird King, Painter of Indian Visitors to the Nation's Capital." IN Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report for 1953. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1954. p. 472. Horan, James D. The McKenney-Hall Portrait Gallery of American Indians. New York: Bramhall House, 1986. pp. 286-287. Kappler, Charles J. Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1904. Vol. 2, pp. 254. Smithsonian Institution Art Inventories. Painting Inventory. 83980367 - King after Lewis - Wahekansheka (Winnebago) - Destroyed 83980370 - King - Wakaunhaka - Destroyed Viola, Herman J. The Indian Legacy of Charles Bird King. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976. pp. 143-144. Viola, Herman J. Indians of North America: Paintings by Henry Inman from the D. Harold Byrd, Jr. Collection. Cody, Wyoming: Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1983. Plate 22. Not in Lewis Catalog, 1850.

Date: Supplied from plate. Plate No.: Supplied from copy reproduced. Standard No.: Supplied from volume contents list. Printer: "J. T. Bowen's Lithographic Establishment" in plate caption. [J. T. Bowen] Delineator: No indication.

(c) University of Cincinnati Digital Press, 2001