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LOT 106

1815 - 1872
Canadian

Chief Red Jacket of Caughnawaga
oil on canvas
signed and on verso inscribed "NJ 800" and "Lot 76 15/7/94"
11 1/2 x 9 1/2 in, 29.2 x 24.1 cm

Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000 CAD

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PROVENANCE
Colonel James Morrison MacKaye (1805 – 1888), Buffalo
James Morrison Steele MacKaye (1842 - 1894), Buffalo
Topographical Pictures, Christie's London, July 15, 1994, lot 76
Masters Gallery Ltd., Calgary
Private Collection, Calgary

LITERATURE
Percy MacKaye, Epoch: The Life of Steele Mackaye, Genius of Theatre, In Relation to His Times & Contemporaries, A memoir by His Son Percy Mackaye, In Two Volumes, New York, 1927, page 45, reproduced plate 3
J. Russell Harper, Krieghoff, 1979, page 52, reproduced page 53


Chief Red Jacket was an important Seneca leader, spokesperson and negotiator. Widely known as “Red Jacket” for the British red coats he wore during the American Revolution, his Seneca name given upon chiefdom was “Sagoyewatha”, meaning he keeps them awake, referring to his great skill as orator. An advocate for the preservation of Seneca tradition and a fierce opponent of Christian conversion, Red Jacket was also known for his political nature and complex allegiances.

As detailed by Russell Harper, Kreighoff’s distinctive rendering of the famous chief is an exceptionally rare treatment of a First Nation’s subject by the artist. Regarding this work and its pendant portrait, lot 107 (Marie of Montreal, Chief Red Jacket’s Wife), Harper remarks, "Normally Krieghoff had little interest in painting Indian portraits as character studies of individuals with distinct feelings. For him the Indian was primarily a symbol of ‘the native’ whether it be a girl in the streets of Montreal or the hunters of Lorette. One exception to the mask-like face, however, is his portrait labelled as being of the Seneca chieftain, Red Jacket. It seems obvious that the painting was done from life because the piercing eyes, the long carefully groomed hair, and other distinctive touches reflect the man’s character. Yet it is a portrait that poses problems since Red Jacket had died years before the canvas was completed. It bears no similarity to the famous chieftain whose features are well known from Charles Bird King’s portrait of 1828. ... Presumably it was a case of expediency through using some deception; the artist must have engaged a model to sit for him whom he thought looked like Red Jacket. The deception went even further, for in painting the pendant portrait of Red Jacket’s wife, whose age seems more appropriate to a mother than to a spouse, he reverted to a stock face. Her features, framed in a blanket drawn over her head, are those Krieghoff first introduced into the Caughnawaga group, then reproduced as a lithograph, and repeated later in isolated figures of Indian women."

A biography of Steele MacKaye, the son of Colonel James Morrison MacKaye who commissioned the portraits, offers an alternative explanation for the lack of resemblance to the famous Chief. As Percy MacKaye notes, the pendant portraits were actually modelled after an entirely different Chief and his wife, personal acquaintances of the Colonel: “As a citizen of Buffalo (said an editorial on his death in 1888) Col. MacKaye was first in all the movements which led to the development of this half-Indian village into the third largest city of New York State … Col. MacKaye was not forgetful of the noble attributes inherent in that dark race of Seneca Indians who’s ancient dominion there was being obliterated by the inflowing tide of whites. The Chief of the tribe at Black Rock (kinsman perhaps of that earlier chief “Red Jacket” – “Sa-go-ye-wat-ha” – whose portrait is preserved by the Buffalo History Society) was a personal friend of the Colonel, my grandfather, who welcomed him often at “The Castle” where the Colonel engaged an artist to paint portraits of the Chief and his squaw, as a birthday gift to my grandmother.” Regardless of the sitter’s identity, the strong sense of familiarity is effectively conveyed in Krieghoff’s fine and distinctive portrait.


All prices are in Canadian Dollars


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