Description: This is a historically significant and Important Antique Old 19th c. Native American Indian Oil Painting on canvas, depicting the profile portrait of the legendary Southern Cheyenne chief, Wolf Robe (1838? - 1910.) This artwork likely dates to the turn of the century, approximately 1899 - 1909, and was inspired by the famous photograph of Wolf Robe which was taken by photographer Frank A. Rinehart (1861 - 1928,) in 1898. This famous photograph was widely circulated at the time and appeared on tobacco advertisements and in printed media. It was also the basis for a circa 1909 painting of Wolf Robe by the noted Native American portrait painter, Elbridge Ayer Burbank (1858 - 1949.) Burbank's artistic rendition of Chief Wolf Robe sold for a whopping $26,325 at auction in 2022. This particular painting of Chief Wolf Robe depicts the stoic profile of this legendary indigenous man, who proudly wears the Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal around his neck, along with a buckskin shirt emblazoned with traditional Plains Indian motifs and beadwork throughout. Signed: "V. Malcolm" in the lower right corner. I could not find any information about this artist, but perhaps you know more about them or their work? Approximately 15 3/8 x 19 3/4 inches (including frame.) Actual artwork is approximately 11 7/8 x 16 inches. Good overall condition for well over a century of age and storage, with one small tear to the canvas, which is visible at the center left edge, and mild scuffing and edge wear to the original antique period gilded wood frame (please see photos.) Interestingly, the patch material on the verso of this canvas was actually cut from a 19th century canvas map of the United States. The particular patch used is an outlined map of the state of Montana, which is a traditional homeland of the Cheyenne tribe. Acquired from an old estate collection in Pasadena, California. This irreplaceable piece of American history is Priced to Sell. It is believed that this particular image of Chief Wolf Robe served as the inspiration for the American "Indian Head" nickel. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About this Artwork: Wolf Robe Wolf Robe or Ho'néhevotoomáhe (born between 1838 and 1841; died 1910, Oklahoma) was a Southern Cheyenne chief and a holder of the Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal.During the late 1870s he was forced to leave the open plains and relocate his tribe on to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation in Indian Territory. He was awarded the Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal in 1890 for his assistance in the Cherokee Commission.F. A. Rinehart photographed the chief in 1898, and DeLancy Gill photographed him in 1909. The iconic portrait photographs of Wolf Robe have been popular throughout the last century. Numerous painters and sculptors have, in turn, created artworks based upon these photographs. Although it is unlikely, some people believe he was the model for the Indian Head nickel. Wolf Robe or Ho'néhevotoomáhe (b. 1838-1841, d. 1910, Oklahoma) was a Southern Cheyenne chief of the southern Cheyenne Indian tribe and a holder of Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal. He appears above in a photograph taken in 1909. During the late 1870s, Wolf Robe's tribe was forced to leave the open plains and relocate on a reservation in Oklahoma.The Cheyenne were divided into two groups, the Southern Cheyenne who were located along the upper Arkansas River and the Northern Cheyenne who were located at the headwaters of the Platt River.In 1864 a group of peaceful Cheyenne were massacred by U.S. Military forces at Sand Creek, Colorado. In 1876 the Cheyenne joined the Sioux and defeated Col. George Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. In 1877 the Cheyenne surrendered and were relocated to "Indian Territory: which is present day Oklahoma.In 1990 the total number of Cheyenne descendants was about 11,000 many of whom still live on reservations in southwestern Oklahoma and southeastern Montana. During the late 1870s he was forced to leave the open plains and relocate his tribe on to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation in Indian Territory. He was awarded the Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal in 1890 for his assistance in the Cherokee Commission. F. A. Rinehart photographed the chief in 1898, Lancy DeGill photographed him in 1909. The iconic portrait photographs of Wolf Robe have been popular throughout the last century. Numerous painters and sculptors have, in turn, created artworks based upon these photographs. Although it is unlikely, some people believe his was the model for the Indian Head nickel.Additional information from Ken West, artist: "Wolf Robe is a Southern Cheyenne and is believed to be the one whose profile was used on the "Indian Head Nickel" Although several different Indians were originally chosen, Wolf Robe is the one most likely used because of the striking resemblance." Peace MedalsIf you’re familiar with Edward Curtis’ project, “The North American Indian”, you may have seen vintage photographs of Native Americans wearing medals and adornments around their neck. Have you ever wondered about the significance of such metals? There is still some controversy over the use and impact of ‘peace metals’ in furthering diplomatic relationships between Native Americans and the federal government. We’re here to tell you more.Indian Peace Medals refer to the ovular or circular medals awarded to tribal leaders throughout colonial America and early United States history. These medals were usually made of silver or brass, ranging in size from about one to six inches. Peace medals were issued to build alliances and negotiate with tribes. This has been done as early as the seventeenth century. For Native Americans, these medals represented a pledge to supply and trade commodities. They would provide raw materials like animal hides, furs, and feathers, and in return, get kettles, beads, ornaments, clothes, and weapons.Peace Medals were more than just a symbol of happy trade. They were an expression of America’s promise of being invested to furthering the peace and diplomacy with the Indians who called this land home.Also, the awarding of Peace Medals often meant there was a formal treaty or negotiation in place. The ultimate origin of Indian Peace Medals is not entirely known, however Thomas Jefferson noted that the usage of the medals is “an ancient custom.”In addition to Peace Medals, Presidential Medals were also gifted. The distribution of presidential medals accompanied nearly every formal interaction between Native Americans and the U.S. federal government. Lewis and Clark distributed about eighty-seven peace medals to Indian leaders as a demonstration of goodwill under Jefferson’s name. The medals were only given to “influential persons,” with the largest of medals reserved for Indian chiefs and warriors.It was a great honor to receive a medal, and the Native Americans associated great value with the acceptance of one. They were to be buried with the pedals remaining around their neck. The considerable amount of portraiture of Native American figures accentuating the medals around their neck serves as a testament to their importance. The medals became a physical representation of a spiritual dimension that linked the wearer to a source of power, for example, the “Great Father” as President Washington was referred to by the recipients. The distribution of peace and presidential medals reinforced and furthered a political order within the tribes. Frank Rinehart Frank Albert Rinehart (February 12, 1861 – December 17, 1928) was an American photographer who captured Native American personalities and scenes, especially portrait settings of leaders and members of the delegations who attended the 1898 Indian Congress in Omaha.BiographyGerman American Rinehart was born in Lodi (now Maple Park), Illinois. He and his brother, Alfred, moved to Colorado in the 1870s and found employment at the Charles Bohm photography studio, in Denver. In 1881 the Rinehart brothers formed a partnership with Western photographer William Henry Jackson, who had achieved widespread fame for his images of the West. Under Jackson's teachings, Rinehart's perfected his professional skills and developed a keen interest in Native American culture. Frank Rinehart and Anna, the receptionist of Jackson's studio, married and in 1885 moved to Nebraska. In downtown Omaha, Rinehart opened a studio in the Brandeis Building, where he worked until his death.Rinehart married Anna Ransom Johnson (daughter of Willard Bemis Johnson and Phebe Jane Carpenter) on September 5, 1885, in Denver County, Colorado. They had two daughters, Ruth and Helen, both born in Nebraska.In 1898, and in occasion of the Indian Congress held in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, Rinehart was commissioned to photograph the event and the Native American personalities who attended it. Together with his assistant Adolph Muhr (who would later be employed by the photographer Edward S. Curtis), they produced what is now considered "one of the best photographic documentations of Indian leaders at the turn of the century". Tom Southall, former photograph curator at the University of Kansas' Spencer Art Museum, said of the Rinehart collection:The dramatic beauty of these portraits is especially impressive as a departure from earlier, less sensitive photographs of Native Americans. Instead of being detached, ethnographic records, the Rinehart photographs are portraits of individuals with an emphasis on strength of expression. While Rinehart and Muhr were not the first photographers to portray Indian subjects with such dignity, this large body of work which was widely seen and distributed may have had an important influence in changing subsequent portrayals of Native Americans.Rinehart and Muhr photographed American Indians at the Indian Congress in a studio on the Exposition grounds with an 8 x 10 glass-negative camera with a German lens. Platinum prints were produced to achieve the broad range of tonal values that medium afforded.After the Indian Congress, Rinehart and Muhr travelled the Indian reservations for two years, portraying Native American leaders who had not attended the event, as well as depicting general aspects of the indigenous everyday life and culture.The collection of Rinehart Indian Photographs is currently preserved at Haskell Indian Nations University. Since 1994, the collection has been organized, preserved, copied, and cataloged in a computer database, funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Hallmark Foundation. It includes images from the 1898 Exposition, the 1899 Greater America Exposition, studio portraits from 1900, and photographs by Rinehart taken at the Crow Agency in Montana also in 1900. Elbridge Ayer Burbank Elbridge Ayer Burbank (August 10, 1858 – April 21, 1949) was an American artist who sketched and painted more than 1200 portraits of Native Americans from 125 tribes. He studied art in Chicago and in his 30s traveled to Munich, Germany, for additional studies with notable German artists. He is believed to be the only person to paint the war chief Geronimo from life.Early life and educationElbridge was born on August 10, 1858, in Harvard, Illinois, to Anna Maria (Ayer) and Abner Jewett Burbank. After attending public schools, he started art studies at the Chicago Academy of Design, where he was influenced by Leonard Volk and graduated in 1874.His maternal uncle Edward E. Ayer was a successful business magnate, museum philanthropist and antiquarian collector. He collected books, original manuscripts and other materials relating to the history and ethnology of Native American peoples at the time of European encounter. His collection, one of the founding donations to the Newberry Library in Chicago, contains a number of Burbank's works.CareerBurbank was the only artist to paint Geronimo from life. He painted or sketched more than 1,200 Native Americans from 125 tribes. Over a period of several years, he spent many months at the Hubbell Trading Post, where he studied and painted Native Americans. Burbank, Oklahoma, is named after him.In 1910, the Editor of The Harvard Independent noted: "No other artist in the country has enjoyed the opportunities experienced by Mr. E. A. Burbank, now a resident of Los Angeles - the painter of Indian portraits, to meet face to face, and on their own ground, the once noted Indian chiefs America now so rapidly passing away. For the last twenty years Mr. Burbank has journeyed from camp to camp among the aborigines of the northwest and southwest, painting successively all the great warriors whose prowess has made their names famous in frontier history. It is, therefore, with considerable pride that The Graphic calls attention to a series of articles from Mr. Burbank's pen, describing his personal interviews with these once-powerful war chiefs, and illustrated by portraits from life, re-drawn in pencil especially for the Graphic, from his original studies. First in this notable galaxy was a picture and story of Red Cloud, the famous Ogallalla (sic) Sioux, recently deceased. Geronimo, the noted Apache chief who preceded Red Cloud the happy hunting grounds by a few months, followed".Burbank arranged for two periods of extended study in Munich, Germany, with notable artists. In 1886-87 he studied with Paul Navin and Frederick Fehr. He returned a couple of years later, when he studied from 1889 to 1890 with Toby Rosenthal. He also traveled to Oberammergau, Germany; Cardiff, Wales; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.As an adult, Burbank was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, referred to then as "manic depression". He was treated at several different facilities during his life, most notably for more than ten years at the State Mental Hospital in Napa, California.He died April 21, 1949, in San Francisco, California, after being struck and severely injured by a cable car on January 27. The accident occurred in front of the Manx Hotel (now the Villa Florence). He was first buried at Mt. Olivet Memorial Park, San Francisco, California, but his remains were reinterred at Forest View Abby in Rockford, Illinois. In 1984 relatives had his remains moved and reinterred at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Harvard, Illinois.Son of the Shadow-MakerIn 1898, Burbank became friends with Chief Blue Horse when he was visiting the Oglala Lakota at Pine Ridge Agency. Burbank painted sitting portraits of the greatest Native American leaders, including Geronimo, Red Cloud and Chief Joseph. At the time, Chief Blue Horse was eighty years of age and rode each day on his horse to pose for Burbank, who he called "Son of the Shadow-Maker". Burbank was also an historian, and his fond recollections illuminate Chief Blue Horse. "Hardly a day passed without Blue Horse coming to my studio to visit me. He would sit down and smoke a little, short, strong pipe and gossip with the other Indians present; all the time he was talking he would be fanning himself with the wing of a turkey. His face usually was painted red, and he wore all the Indian clothes he had, with a single feather on his head. He was a thorough Indian, and extremely kind-hearted. His principal object in life was to try to make others happy around him".
Price: 3500 USD
Location: Orange, California
End Time: 2025-01-15T01:55:40.000Z
Shipping Cost: N/A USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Malcolm
Unit of Sale: Single Piece
Signed By: Malcolm
Size: Medium
Signed: Yes
Period: Historicism (1850-1900)
Material: Canvas, Oil
Framing: Framed
Subject: Community Life, Cowboy, Figures, Men, Silhouettes, States & Counties, Still Life, Wolf, Working Life, Cheyenne, Indian Head Nickel, Elbridge Ayer Burbank
Type: Painting
Year of Production: 1898
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 19 3/4 in
Theme: Americana, Art, Cities & Towns, Continents & Countries, Cultures & Ethnicities, Events & Festivals, Famous Places, Fashion, History, Patriotic, People, Politics, Portrait, Social History, Western
Style: Americana, Figurative Art, Illustration Art, Native American, Portraiture, Still Life
Features: One of a Kind (OOAK)
Production Technique: Oil Painting
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Item Width: 15 3/8 in
Handmade: Yes
Culture: Cheyenne
Time Period Produced: 1850-1899
