Shaumonekusse, Prairie Wolf
Artist
Charles Bird King
(American, 1785 - 1862)
Datec.1822
Mediumoil on wood
Dimensions17 1/2 × 13 3/4 inches (44.4 × 34.9 cm)
Framed: 21 × 17 1/2 × 1 5/8 inches (53.3 × 44.5 × 4.1 cm)
Framed: 21 × 17 1/2 × 1 5/8 inches (53.3 × 44.5 × 4.1 cm)
Credit LinePurchase of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, 1982
Object number31.212.3
ClassificationsPaintings
Label TextShaumonekusse, a chief of the Oto tribe, came to Washington, D.C. as part of a delegation in 1821. A government agent brought a group of Kansa, Missouri, Omaha, Oto, and Pawnee Indians to the Capitol as a diplomatic strategy. Thomas L. McKenney, who was Superintendent of Indian Trade at that time, commissioned Charles Bird King to paint portraits of the delegates. This commission began the Indian Gallery. McKenney later wrote that Shaumonekusse was “distinguished not only as a warrior, but as a great hunter” and noted the buffalo horns and grizzly bear claw necklace he wore.
ProvenanceCharles Bird King [1785-1862]; gifted April 1829 to Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island; sold May 21, 1970 (Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., New York); purchased through (Kennedy Galleries, New York) by The Warner Collection, Gulf States Paper Corporation, Tuscaloosa, Alabama owned until 1982; purchased December 1, 1982 through (Gerald Peters, Santa Fe, New Mexico) by the Nelda C. and H.J Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
On View
On view
