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Lot 1107
Two guns White calf, native American, the last chief of the Pikuni Blackfoot. 1872-1934. Portrait of Two Guns White Calf. Signed "F.A.V. [19]29", with the pictographic form of his signature added by the artist.
6 – 13 December 2018, 10:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$1,250 inc. premium
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Two guns White calf, native American, the last chief of the Pikuni Blackfoot. 1872-1934.
Portrait of Two Guns White Calf. Signed "F.A.V. [19]29", with the pictographic form of his signature added by the artist. Oil on canvas, showing the chief posed head and shoulders looking right, and wearing his favored shell earrings and bear claw necklace, the medallion around his neck lettered "Boy Scout from Fidelity [Kan]sas State Bank", framed, the frame worn with loss of gilt, the stretcher marked in ball point on verso "Indian Head. Topeka Art Guild". Canvas measuring 455 x 355mm.
WITH: Hileman, Tomer J. Portrait of Two Guns White Calf, mounted albumen print with stamped signature "Hileman 27" and the pictogram of the sitters signature. framed, 380 x 300mm.
WITH: A printed music sheet for Hail the Baltimore & Ohio, New York: Walter Goodman, [March 1928]. 6pp, 4to, upper cover signed in ink, "Two Guns White Calf" and with his pictographic signature.
WITH: An example of the Buffalo nickel.
A fine collection of images of Two Guns White Calf, the last chief of the Blackfoot nation. He was born in Fort Benton, Montana, and adopted by Chief White Calf at a young age. On White Calf's death in 1903, Two Guns took over as chief, guiding and keeping the ideas of the Blackfoot nation alive in the early 20th century. His father had sold a large amount of Blackfoot land to become the Glacier National Park, and in fact died in Washington waiting to receive the money for this sale from the Government! In 1903 his son went again to D.C. and refused to leave until he was paid and eventually came back with the funds for the tribe as agreed in the Government treaties with the Blackfoot. In the 1910s he became part of the tourist attractions of Montana, as he supposed that it was his head on the Buffalo Nickel issued in 1913 onwards. The designer of the coin, James Fraser, always maintained that he used a combination of Indian portraits, but the idea was promulgated by the Great Northern Railroad, for whom Two Guns became a spokesperson to promote tourism to the Glacier Park. In 1928 he attended the conference of Indian leaders who met with President Coolidge at the White House in September 1928, and he also attended the Centenary Pageant of the Baltimore and Ohio gathering in Baltimore in the same year, called "The Fair of the Iron Horse."
The oil portrait appears to have been adapted from the Hileman photograph and originates from Topecha, Kansas, the home of the Fidelity State Bank, for whom this picture was probably painted for, possibly by the Great Northern Railroad, as part of their publicity campaign based around the person of Two Guns White Calf. The signature on the music program is original as he had been taught to write by his daughter Mary or his wife Susan, the pictographic form of his signature was another marketing ploy created by the Great Northern Railroad, as he originally signed with his thumb. Hileman 1882-1945 was a Pennsylvanian photographer who moved to Kalispell, Montana in 1911 and opened a portrait studio. He became the official photographer of the Great Northern Railroad in 1924, and is famous for his work in the Glacier Park and for his images of the Blackfoot people of Montana.
WITH: Hileman, Tomer J. Portrait of Two Guns White Calf, mounted albumen print with stamped signature "Hileman 27" and the pictogram of the sitters signature. framed, 380 x 300mm.
WITH: A printed music sheet for Hail the Baltimore & Ohio, New York: Walter Goodman, [March 1928]. 6pp, 4to, upper cover signed in ink, "Two Guns White Calf" and with his pictographic signature.
WITH: An example of the Buffalo nickel.
A fine collection of images of Two Guns White Calf, the last chief of the Blackfoot nation. He was born in Fort Benton, Montana, and adopted by Chief White Calf at a young age. On White Calf's death in 1903, Two Guns took over as chief, guiding and keeping the ideas of the Blackfoot nation alive in the early 20th century. His father had sold a large amount of Blackfoot land to become the Glacier National Park, and in fact died in Washington waiting to receive the money for this sale from the Government! In 1903 his son went again to D.C. and refused to leave until he was paid and eventually came back with the funds for the tribe as agreed in the Government treaties with the Blackfoot. In the 1910s he became part of the tourist attractions of Montana, as he supposed that it was his head on the Buffalo Nickel issued in 1913 onwards. The designer of the coin, James Fraser, always maintained that he used a combination of Indian portraits, but the idea was promulgated by the Great Northern Railroad, for whom Two Guns became a spokesperson to promote tourism to the Glacier Park. In 1928 he attended the conference of Indian leaders who met with President Coolidge at the White House in September 1928, and he also attended the Centenary Pageant of the Baltimore and Ohio gathering in Baltimore in the same year, called "The Fair of the Iron Horse."
The oil portrait appears to have been adapted from the Hileman photograph and originates from Topecha, Kansas, the home of the Fidelity State Bank, for whom this picture was probably painted for, possibly by the Great Northern Railroad, as part of their publicity campaign based around the person of Two Guns White Calf. The signature on the music program is original as he had been taught to write by his daughter Mary or his wife Susan, the pictographic form of his signature was another marketing ploy created by the Great Northern Railroad, as he originally signed with his thumb. Hileman 1882-1945 was a Pennsylvanian photographer who moved to Kalispell, Montana in 1911 and opened a portrait studio. He became the official photographer of the Great Northern Railroad in 1924, and is famous for his work in the Glacier Park and for his images of the Blackfoot people of Montana.