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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."About 22 years of age, son of the Chief Ma-wo-ma. This Indian was an admirable specimen of the Snakes. His form, - straight as an arrow, and a carriage of natural grace, - that no dancing master could impart. It was impossible to look at him without admiration. ... His bearing was that of a prince - courageous and self-reliant."A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837).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
3117
label
Si-roc-u-an-tua
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
3
Source metadata
id
3117
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
Si-roc-u-an-tua
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."About 22 years of age, son of the Chief Ma-wo-ma. This Indian was an admirable specimen of the Snakes. His form, - straight as an arrow, and a carriage of natural grace, - that no dancing master could impart. It was impossible to look at him without admiration. ... His bearing was that of a prince - courageous and self-reliant."A.J. Miller, extracted from "The West of Alfred Jacob Miller" (1837).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
Commissioned by William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1858-1860; inherited by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
date
1858-1860
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
watercolors (paintings)
imageCount
3
pageCount
3
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
28.6
height
22.4
dimensionsRaw
H: 11 1/4 x W: 8 13/16 in. (28.6 x 22.4 cm)
Source extras
inscriptions
[Monogram] Lower right: AJMiller; [Number] Lower right: 45
med
watercolor heightened with white on paper
creator_ids
4486
collection_ids
EAN
exhibition_ids
2156
3300
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
e46247b03d8c99a4
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
70c406a2900f3ec5
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
3
type
photo
mediaId
efdb8b84cf65ccef
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no