ORIGINAL 1836 McKENNEY & HALL LARGE FOLIO NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN LITHOGRAPH #2

Very rare and original, 1836 Large Folio size, Hand colored Stone Lithograph from McKenney and Hall’s “Portfolio of American Indians” of the Great Native American Chippewa / Ojibwa Indian Chief Waemboeshkaa.
An Ojibwe chief from Sandy Lake, Waemboeshkaa attended the Fond du Lac Treaty negotiations of 1826 where he impressed Americans with his regal bearing. Holding a pipe decorated with horse hair, Waemboeshkaa was described by Thomas L. McKenney, the first U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs, as wearing a “kingly crown”—an “appendage of royalty” that, for McKenney, recalled depictions of “King Saul.”
This fantastic, hand colored lithograph measures approx. 14 1/4″ by 20 1/4″ and retains its original full margins.
The Image is a bust portrait of the Chippewa Chief with a blanket wrapped around his midsection. He smokes a wonderful, bead and feather decorated pipe with a figural bowl in the form of the head of a bird. He wears a hat that resembles a crown and his face in painted with red beneath his eyes.
The Lithograph is titled in the stone “WA-EM-BOESH-KAA, A Chippeway Chief ”. It is copyright 1836 by the publisher E. G. Biddle of Philadelphia. The portrait was painted by Charles Bird King and lithographed by Lehman & Duval of Philadelphia. The original hand coloring is very dark and strong and this wonderful, early 19th century lithograph is stunningly beautiful.
Colonel McKenney’s description of Chief Waemboeshkaa reads as follows:
”Among the most remarkable chiefs we met with at the treaty of La Fond du Lac Superior, in 1826, was Waemboeshkaa, a Chippewa chief. Our attention was attracted more by his style of dress than by any particular part that he bore in the ceremonies of that occasion. He was the only Indian present who seemed to have a right conception of the kingly crown, and to have succeeded in constructing a very successful imitation of that appendage of royalty. It is true, the materials were far more costly; they were a mixture of feathers, glossy, and very beautiful, from the drake’s breast, and of the bills and feathers from the head of the wood pecker. In place of bracelets of metal, his wrists were similarly ornamented, whilst his neck was encircled with horse-hair, colored with vermilion. His pipe was made gay with the same materials, and his pouch had been the object of his special attentions. His blanket was sound, and large, and clean. He was one of the representatives of the Sandy Lake band. He arrived late at the treaty ground; and, on joining the assemblage, appeared conscious that, whatever he might lack in other accomplishments, he was the superior of all present in the ornaments of his person. There did not, however, appear to be any thing deficient in him in other respects; he was thoughtful, respectful, and conducted himself throughout with great propriety.
We might not, perhaps, have singled him out on account of his dress, if the seven hundred Indians, of both sexes, and of all ages, by whom he was surrounded, had not formed so disadvantageous a contrast, They were amongst the worst clad, and most wretched body of Indians we ever met with. Our remarks, made at the time, are now before us; we give the following extract: “Never before had we witnessed such a display, nor such an exhibition of nakedness and wretchedness, nor such varieties of both. From the infant, tied to its cradle, and to the back of its mother, to the Big Buffalo; from the little fellow, with a dress made of raccoon skins, himself not much above the size of that animal, and looking, except his face, for all the world like one of them on its hinder feet, to Waemboeshkaa, one of the Sandy Lake chiefs, dressed like King Saul.” So we denominated this chief at the time; and he bore a very remarkable likeness to that personage, crown and all, as we have seen him sketched by those who have indulged their fancy in presenting to the world their imaginings of this renowned personage.
Whatever of humiliation might have been produced by those who were lowest in the scale of want, was relieved by suitable presents, before we left the treaty ground. Waemboeshkaa, it is true, received his due proportion, and maintained, therefore, his superiority in personal wealth and endowments. We parted from this chief at the conclusion of the treaty, and have heard nothing of him since; nor did we learn, at the time, that he had ever particularly Distinguished himself, (not even by much smoking, for all Indians are inveterate smokers,) but inferred that, either by descent, or exploits in war, he was high in the confidence of his band, or that otherwise he would not have been deputed to attend the treaty in the capacity of chief.
The McKenney and Hall “History of the Indian Tribes of North America” was produced between 1836-1844. These richly hand colored lithographs are today one of the most important and attractive ethnographic works created in nineteenth century America. McKenney and Hall’s Indian Tribes of North America have long been renowned for its faithful portraits of Native Americans. The portrait plates are based on paintings by the artist Charles Bird King, who was employed by the War Department to paint the Indian delegates visiting Washington D. C., forming the basis of the War Department’s Indian Gallery. “the most colorful portraits of Indians ever executed” (Howes). T. L. McKenney’s goal in commissioning the work was both to educate the American public about these greatly exotic warriors and chiefs and to preserve them for posterity in a series of beautiful portraits. Most of the original oil portraits were painted from life in studio of Charles Bird King, to whom McKenney brought many of the subjects. The rest were copied from watercolors executed in the field by a young frontier artist named James Otto Lewis. Once finished the portraits were housed in the Smithsonian, where they remained until an 1865 fire burned down the institution and destroyed most of the paintings. Their appearance in McKenney and Hall’s magnificent work is thus our only record of the likenesses of many of the most prominent Indian leaders of the early nineteenth century. Numbered among King’s sitters were Sequoyah, Red Jacket, Major Ridge, Cornplanter, and Osceola. After six years as Superintendent of Indian Trade, Thomas McKenney had become concerned for the survival of the Western tribes. As a result the folio and octavo editions are vital in their “faithful recording of the features and dress of celebrated American Indians who lived and died long before the age of photography”
This beautiful, original 1836 hand colored portrait is in very good condition. As noted above the sheet retains its full, wide original margins with some edge chipping and edge wear as can be seen in the scans below. The original hand coloring is bright and vibrant – rich and warm and the Lithograph displays beautifully. The sheet has some small spots of light foxing and some light stains and age toning in the margin areas but no offset of the text from the facing page. With a quality matting and framing the Portrait will display beautifully!
An exceptionally rare and stunningly beautiful, original McKenney and Hall Native American Indian, Large folio, Hand Colored, Stone Lithograph Portrait of the young and handsome, Chippewa Chief Waemboeshkaa and a fantastic addition to any collection!!
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