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Hongs-kay-dee, Hee-lah-de, Mong-shong-shaw
Hongs-kay-dee, Hee-lah-de, Mong-shong-shaw
Hongs-kay-dee, Hee-lah-de, Mong-shong-shaw

Hongs-kay-dee, Hee-lah-de, Mong-shong-shaw

Artist (American, 1796 - 1872)
Date1852
Mediumpencil and watercolor on cardboard
DimensionsSheet: 17 3/8 x 22 3/4 inches (44.1 x 57.8 cm)
Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965
Object number11.77.2.O
ClassificationsPaper
DescriptionPages are now separate. Original worn buckrum binding, black leather corners and spine, gold lines. Encased in a red portfolio.
Label TextIn the 1830s Catlin traveled to the West to record and document Indian peoples and their customs. He painted nearly 500 portraits and scenes of life. Later, he used his paintings to make other versions. In this work he portrayed three family members of the Puncah, or Ponca, people. In the center is Hongs-kay-dee or the Great Chief. He is the son of the current chief and is the “heir apparent.” On the left of the picture is Mong-shong-shaw, the wife of Hongs-kay-dee. Her name translates as Bending Willow. On the right is Hee-lah-de, or the Pure Fountain, the mother of Hongs-kay-dee.
ProvenancePurchased June 11, 1956 through (Charles Eberstadt, Edward Eberstadt & Sons, New York, New York) by H.J. Lutcher Stark [1887-1965]; bequeathed September 2, 1965 to the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation; accessioned to the Stark Museum of Art
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