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Keokuk, Chief of the Sauks and Foxes Lithograph

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Native Americana Start Price:1,375.00 USD Estimated At:2,750.00 USD and UP
Keokuk, Chief of the Sauks and Foxes Lithograph
Preview
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite#309
Reno, NV 89511
Thursday August22, 10am-6pm
* Preview also available by appointment

Live Auction
Friday & Saturday
August 23 & 24, 2013
9am PDT starting time, both days

Location
Atlantis Casino & Resort
Grand Ballroom #4
3800 S. Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502

Lot Pick Up
Holabird-Kagin Americana Office
3555 Airway Drive Suite #309
Reno, NV 89511
Sunday August 25, 10am-1pm

The print measures 13 3/4 x 19 1/2 inches and comes mounted on hardboard with no matte. There is some slight wear on this piece, but overall it is in fine condition. Charles Bird King painted Keokuk in 1837, when the chief was honored for his brilliant debate in Washington "against the representatives of the Sauk and Fox in what is now the state of Iowa…McKenney was particularly impressed with Keokuk…The chiefs and warriors of the other tribes in the capital at the time strutted up and down Pennsylvania Avenue in the gaudy clothes the government had given them as presents. But not Keokuk`s warriors. Instead of top hats, tight yellow shoes, and garish pantaloons, his braves appeared in buckskins and buffalo robes. Colonel McKenney recalled that they possessed a "dignity and good taste which attracted notice."
History of the Indian Tribes of North America
First Edition Lithographs after the original oils by Charles Bird King Folio.
1836-1844
McKenney and Hall’s History of the Indian Tribes of North America has long been renowned for its faithful portraits of chiefs, warriors and women of various Native American tribes.
Col. Thomas J. McKenney was a champion of Native American causes, and fought throughout his tenure to preserve something of their culture; such an integral part of the history of the United States. Hired in 1816 as the head of the United Stated Bureau of Indian Affairs, McKenney travelled the nation meeting with Native American chiefs and observing their vanishing way of life. He took with him James Otto Lewis, an artist who did the difficult job of “penciling the way,” creating about 80 portraits of various tribes people on their journey.
McKinney shortly thereafter returned to Washington D.C. and began to plan an archive that would house Indian memorabilia, as well as the portraits drawn by Lewis. As luck would have it, between 1821-24, several delegations of Native Americans came to Washington to see President Monroe. McKinney took advantage of this opportune time to record even more likenesses and stories, commissioning artist Charles Bird King (whose studio resided in the capital) to do the portraiture. King Painted more than 100 portraits between 1821 and 1841. He also paid tribute to James Otto Lewis, using his original art to create the more well-formed oil portraits that would eventually be used for the lithographs in the final folio.
In 1830, McKenney was dismissed by President Jackson and subsequently began to work the publication of a folio of the portraits. Completed 1836, the plates for the first edition were first published in 1832. The folio was a collaborative effort, the text written by James Hall based on information, which McKenney supplied. The magnitude of the project was overwhelming; McKenney battled poverty, politics, and printers to achieve his goal.
In 1865, a fire at the Smithsonian destroyed almost all of the original paintings from which the lithographs were drawn. The prints from the remaining folios are thus vital in their role as faithful recordings of Native American and pre-Civil War history. HKA#64746