Wakussáse, Meskwaki Man

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Wakussáse, Meskwaki Man

Date

March 27, 1833

Dimensions

11 13/16 × 8 1/2 in. (30 × 21.6 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.234

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

The inscription on this portrait, which identifies the subject as Wakussáse, a Meskwaki (Fox) Indian, adds that the e in his name is to be pronounced. He wears a deer hair roach on his head, partially dyed with vermillion and ornamented with a feather as a mark of success in battle. See Image 1986.49.314, Number 2, for a detailed rendering of this type of ornament, and Image 1986.49.235 for a depiction of the hair style which formed its base of attachment. Wakussásealso wears numerous shell or metal drop earrings, a blanket, and a heavy necklace of shell beads, the latter two only sketchily indicated. Wakussáse is pictured in Tableau 3 of the aquatints with Massika, the Sauk Indian shown in Image 1986.49.235. Another Meskwaki man was meant to have been depicted with Massika in the aquatint, but for unknown reasons his portrait could not be engraved and that of Wakussáse was substituted.

References in Journal

March 25, 1833

Labels:

genre, portrait , St. Louis, Missouri

Approximate Depicted Location:

St. Louis, Missouri