Charles Bird King, (American, 1785 to 1862)
Charles Bird King studied under Samuel King, Edward Savage, Benjamin West, and Thomas Sully. Failing to achieve success in Philadelphia, he moved to Washington, DC in 1816. In 1821, Superintendent of Indian Trade Thomas McKenney commissioned King to paint the portraits of American Indians who were brought to Washington as guests of U.S. government. By 1842, he had executed over 100 portraits of some of the most prominent Indians, including Red Jacket and Black Hawk. The corpus of his work hung in the War Department until 1858 when it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. Sadly, this collection was destroyed by fire in 1865. Fortunately, King painted duplicate copies of many of his portraits, over sixty of which survive today.
Beginning in 1832, Thomas McKenney began publishing many of King’s portrait in the landmark History of the Indian Tribes of North America, the text being written by James Hall. This monumental, three volume work is considered by historians and anthropologists to be one of the best visual records of the American Indian.
Information courtesy of Cowan’s Auctions Inc., February 2006.