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Wa-Em-Boesh-Ka, a Chippeway Chief Lithograph

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Native Americana Start Price:475.00 USD Estimated At:950.00 USD and UP
Wa-Em-Boesh-Ka, a Chippeway Chief 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 matte measures 18 x 22 inches, exposed print opening is 13 x 17. There is some slight wear on this piece at the edges (covered by the matte), but overall it is in fine condition. Wa-Em-Boesh-Ka was a regal chief, shown here wearing an intricate hat made partially of hummingbird feathers and beaks. He holds a beautifully adorned "peace pipe," representing his hope for peaceable relations.

First Edition Lithographs from McKenney and Hall`s
History of the Indian Tribes of North America
After the original oils by Charles Bird King
Folio sized
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 States Bureau of Indian Affairs, McKenney traveled the nation meeting with Native American chiefs and observing their vanishing way of life. He took with him James Otto Lewis, an artist who had the difficult job of “penciling along the way,” creating about 80 portraits of various tribespeople on their journey.
McKenney shortly thereafter returned to Washington D.C. and began plans on an archive that would house Indian memorabilia, including the portraits drawn by Lewis. As luck would have it, between 1821 and 1824, several delegations of Native Americans came to Washington to see President Monroe. McKenney took advantage of these opportune visits to record even more likenesses and stories, this time 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 work on the publication of a folio of the portraits. The first volume of the first edition was published in 1836. The folio was a collaborative effort, the text written by James Hall based on the information McKenney supplied. The magnitude of the project was overwhelming: McKenney battled poverty, politics, and printers before ultimately achieving his goal.
In 1865, a fire at the Smithsonian destroyed almost all of the original paintings that the lithographs were drawn from. The prints from the remaining folios are thus vital in their role as faithful recordings of Native American and pre-Civil War history. HKA#64750