Saw-se-a, Head Chief of the Cowichin
Artist
Paul Kane
(Canadian, 1810 - 1871)
Date1847
Mediumwatercolor and pencil on paper
Dimensions5 1/4 x 4 1/8 inches (13.3 x 10.5 cm)
Credit LineBequest of H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1965
Object number31.78.103
ClassificationsPaintings
Label TextPaul Kane wanted to record the landscape and the Indian peoples before they changed. In 1845, he traveled around the Great Lakes. Next, he journeyed from Toronto to the Pacific coast and back. On both trips, he sketched in watercolor and oil paints along the way. He made notes for a book he later published. "Saw-se-a the head chief of the Cowitchins, from the Gulf of Georgia, an inveterate gambler, was engaged at the game. He had come to the Esquimelt on a friendly visit. This chief was a great warrior in his younger days, and received an arrow through the cheek in one of his battles." Kane, “Wanderings of an Artist, Chapter XIV”
ProvenanceArtist; by descent to his grandson, Paul Kane III [1889-1958], Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; purchased September 17, 1957 through (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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