Sioux Chief Portrait – Esh-Ta-Hum-Leah, Native American Lithograph c.1838
€ 1 900
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1838
Sheet size
49.7 × 38.7 cm (19.6 × 15.2 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13467-9
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Repaired: Closed tears in margins. Good condition overall for its age. Light age-toning throughout and some minor surface spotting in the margins. Colors remain vivid and well-preserved. Tears in the margins are repaired.
About this sheet
Esh-ta-hum-leah, a Sioux chief, a hand-colored lithograph from the History of the Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, published in Philadelphia by F.W. Greenough and drawn, printed and colored at J.T. Bowen's lithographic establishment, about 1838. The name is lettered in capitals as "ESH-TA-HUM-LEAH", with "A Sioux Chief" beneath it, and the publisher's imprint and copyright line follow.
The portrait is a half-length bust. The man faces the viewer with a calm, direct gaze, his long hair in two braids bound with ties and two feathers with black tips set at the back of his head. He wears a gray-white fur robe, a dark blue-black sash over one shoulder, a neckerchief and a buff-colored shirt, and the skin is colored in a deep reddish brown.
The McKenney and Hall portraits were largely copied from Charles Bird King's paintings of Indian delegates in Washington, and many of the originals were later destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian, so the lithographs are the main surviving record of the series.
