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Post by jinlian on Aug 20, 2008 17:56:30 GMT -5
The Smithsonian has labeled this image as "American Horse, 1874, by Mitchell, McGowan& Co."; this would make it the earliest portrait of American Horse. However, to me it looks rather as another one of the 1877 Mitchell series - can anyone confirm it?
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Post by Dietmar on Aug 22, 2008 6:44:30 GMT -5
That´s what I think, too. Did Mitchell copy and sell one of the 1877 photographs? BTW, Diane has updated the American Horse page at our main site!!! Thank you Diane!
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Post by jinlian on Aug 22, 2008 7:46:09 GMT -5
Thanks Dietmar (and, once again, a BIG thank you to Diane for updating the American Horse bio page!). Here's the other shot of American Horse by Mitchell: In the two pictures, he's wearing two different outfits - the supposed 1874 image is however closer to the half-native style common to the other chiefs potrayed in the same series. In this image American Horse is instead wearing a scalp shirt. I wonder also why Mitchell realized two different portraits (don't rememeber he took more than one shot of other natives)...is it possibile he was at the Red Cloud agency in two different occasions?
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Post by Dietmar on Aug 22, 2008 8:42:45 GMT -5
Okay, this makes it clearer. The fur braid on his left side, the loose hair on his right side, the pipe, the dentalium shell choker, the ring on his middle finger and the backdrop looks the same.
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Post by jinlian on Aug 22, 2008 14:10:54 GMT -5
About the backdrop, I'm not 100% sure, as it's almost impossible to view it in the second picture; I know at least of another picture of AH wearing his hair in the same fashion (the Godkin one). About the chocker and the ring: he was wearing them also in the 1877 Washington pictures.
Another detail which makes me wonder is the scalp shirt one: as reported by Ephriam, American Horse lose his scalp shirt in 1876, so it's somewhat surprising he was wearing one in the second picture which in 1877, if I'm not mistaken, would have been taken taken at the Red Cloud Agency and not in the neutral environment of a city photographic studio.
Just some thoughts.
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Post by jinlian on Aug 22, 2008 17:59:48 GMT -5
By the way, this is a great picture too: For sure, it was taken in the early 1900s, but I haven't been able to date date it, nor to find out the photographer's name.
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Post by Diane Merkel on Aug 22, 2008 22:32:29 GMT -5
Thanks very much for the praise about the expanded page, but the credit should go to Dietmar for compiling it all!
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Post by jinlian on Aug 23, 2008 4:00:27 GMT -5
Oops...Dietmar, I suppose I owe you an apology for my forgetfulness! Thank you very much! By the way, I've replaced the stereoview in the first posting because it was upsetting the format of this page. Sorry for the inconvenience it may have caused. For those who want to see the stereoview, here's the link: sirismm.si.edu/naa/24/stereo/00210300.jpg
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Post by grahamew on Aug 26, 2008 12:43:10 GMT -5
Are you sure that's American Horse, Jinlian? Here's another, dated 1906, credited to Crossland; it's been touched up considerably but it's clearly him:
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Post by jinlian on Aug 26, 2008 12:58:19 GMT -5
Yes Grahame, I'm quite sure....I've seen so many pictures that I could recognize him behind a curtain! Thanks, I had the one above (think I posted it also on the LBH thread); here's a 1907 one, just to make a comparison (photographer should be E. Truman): Update: yes, I posted both in the LBH thread, and now both photographs can be seen in the AH biography page in the main site - I'm using the American-Tribes link for the one above now.
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Post by jinlian on Aug 26, 2008 13:13:23 GMT -5
This photograph, also a rather famous one, where American Horse is sitting near Red Hawk, is credited to C. Bell: Honestly, I've strong doubts on this, as American Horse' s last visits to Washington were in 1897 (with Red Cloud and Clarence Three Stars) and in 1905 (with Hollow Horn Bear, Quanah Parker, Geronimo etc. for the Roosevelt parade) - I don't remember Red Hawk making any of these two trips. Is it sure this image was made by Bell?
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Post by grahamew on Aug 26, 2008 13:19:26 GMT -5
I'd like to see the rest of the photo. I've only ever seen what you've posted.
Off the top of my head, I think Bell was dead by 1895.
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Post by jinlian on Aug 26, 2008 13:20:56 GMT -5
Ok, now I understand. The "Bell" photo (btw, I don't think it's a Bell photo or that it was taken in Washington either), I've always found it in this format - I've no clue about the identity of the man whose arm (and part of hat) can be seen behind American Horse. It could be anyone: an interpreter (Lakota or mixed blood), an official, a white friend...
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Post by grahamew on Aug 26, 2008 13:27:11 GMT -5
No I can see it; it's just that it looks cropped.
Bell died in 93, although I think his studio continued to work under his name - so that, uh, wasn't really any help! Sorry.
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Post by jinlian on Aug 26, 2008 13:30:16 GMT -5
Yes, Grahame - sorry, I understood what you meant only after a second reading. I'm not an English native speaker - my apologies!
Unfortunately, the picture comes only in that format (it's from the Smithsonian Archives). For other info: I just know Red Hawk was a holy man, but haven't any biographical details.
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