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Source Description

Extracts from Alfred Jacob Miller’s original text, which accompanied his images of Native Americans, are included below for reference. These words, which shaped how Miller’s contemporaries viewed the watercolors, reveal the racism and sexism embedded in 19th-century exploration and colonization of the western part of what is today the United States."Auguste has ready the Captain's horse, who is giving some directions to Antoine (a Canadian half-bred), his prime hunter to the camp: While in London, the Captain had purchased 3 'Joe Mantons' at about 40 guineas each; these guns were famous in their day for shooting point blank, or as the Trappers style it, 'plum centre,' and in the hands of a true marksman like Antoine, the Buffaloes had to 'go under.'" A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837). The Captain referred to here is the Scottish nobleman, William Drummond Stewart. Antoine is Antoine Clement, his companion and, later, butler.In July 1858 William T. Walters commissioned 200 watercolors at twelve dollars apiece from Baltimore born artist Alfred Jacob Miller. These paintings were each accompanied by a descriptive text, and were delivered in installments over the next twenty-one months and ultimately were bound in three albums. Transcriptions of field-sketches drawn during the 1837 expedition that Miller had undertaken to the annual fur-trader's rendezvous in the Green River Valley (in what is now western Wyoming), these watercolors are a unique record of the closing years of the western fur trade.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
11653
label
Preparing for a Buffalo Hunt
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
11653
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Preparing for a Buffalo Hunt
description
Extracts from Alfred Jacob Miller’s original text, which accompanied his images of Native Americans, are included below for reference. These words, which shaped how Miller’s contemporaries viewed the watercolors, reveal the racism and sexism embedded in 19th-century exploration and colonization of the western part of what is today the United States."Auguste has ready the Captain's horse, who is giving some directions to Antoine (a Canadian half-bred), his prime hunter to the camp: While in London, the Captain had purchased 3 'Joe Mantons' at about 40 guineas each; these guns were famous in their day for shooting point blank, or as the Trappers style it, 'plum centre,' and in the hands of a true marksman like Antoine, the Buffaloes had to 'go under.'" A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837). The Captain referred to here is the Scottish nobleman, William Drummond Stewart. Antoine is Antoine Clement, his companion and, later, butler.In July 1858 William T. Walters commissioned 200 watercolors at twelve dollars apiece from Baltimore born artist Alfred Jacob Miller. These paintings were each accompanied by a descriptive text, and were delivered in installments over the next twenty-one months and ultimately were bound in three albums. Transcriptions of field-sketches drawn during the 1837 expedition that Miller had undertaken to the annual fur-trader's rendezvous in the Green River Valley (in what is now western Wyoming), these watercolors are a unique record of the closing years of the western fur trade.
provenance
William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1858-1860, by commission; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1858-1860
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
watercolors (paintings)
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
31.3
height
24.1
dimensionsRaw
H: 12 5/16 x W: 9 1/2 in. (31.3 x 24.1 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Signature] Lower left: Miller; [Number] 10
med
wash heightened with white on paper
creator_ids
4486
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
2165
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
e160b1ef724095b3
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
42d44b2783170ae3
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
b7fe6668d51629cc
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no