Cherokee Indian
Reproduction
Object numberRCSSC/P 245
CollectionHunterian Art
CategoryVisual works
Object nameOil paintings, Portraits
TitleCherokee Indian
DescriptionPortrait of a male native American, by William Hodges, unsigned, one of a pair.
The sitter is a young Native American man, shown half length turned slightly to the left. He wears a dark blanket trimmed with gold and red bands over his left shoulder. Beneath this is a white shirt with a loose white ruff and black stock. He has a metal gorget hanging from his neck, and a wide band, probably metal, around his right bicep. His long dark hair is tied back from a centre parting, exposing his ears which have large silver wheel earrings with eight spokes. A single white feather is stuck in his hair at the crown of his head. He is shown against a background of dark cloud, lightening in a horizontal band which frames his face.
The true identity of the sitters shown in Hodges' portraits is not known. It has been suggested that they are Richard Justice and Moses Price, who visited London in 1790-1 with William Augustus Bowles, the self-styled 'commander-in-chief' of the Cherokee nation.
The portrait was owned by John Hunter before 1793, and was among those displayed in his museum in Leicester Square.
Owner/user
transferred
Related objectsRCSSC/P 246
Physical Location
LocationOn display in the Hunterian Museum, Room 6: Leicester Square
Physical Information
Physical descriptionOil on canvas, 75cm by 62cm.
Bibliography
SourceClift 1816
NotesManuscript list titled "A List of Paintings and Drawings framed and glazed, numbered according to the Situation in which they were placed round the rail of the Gallery in Mr. Hunter's museum in Castle Street Leicester Square"
Transcript32. A Cherokee Indian, companion to 31
W. Hodges R.A. for Mr. Hunter
