Mándeh-Páhchu, Mandan Man

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Mándeh-Páhchu, Mandan Man

Date

March 11, 1834

Dimensions

12 1/2 × 10 1/16 in. (31.8 × 25.6 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.270

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

A portrait of Mándeh-Páhchu ("Eagle's Beak") was begun on March 11, 1834, at Fort Clark. Mándeh-Páhchu returned the following day intending that the work continue, but was brushed aside in favor of the "far more beautifully dressed" Hidatsa warrior, Péhriska-Rúhpa (see Image 1986.49.390 and Image 1986.49.275). Mándeh-Páhchu's drawing was evidently completed later that month. Mándeh-Páhchu is lavishly adorned in this picture. He wears beaded hair-bows with long strings of alternating blue beads and dentalium shells tipped with what appear to be strips of ermine fur; large, square earrings, probably of abalone shell; an ermine tail, fur bands and a heavy beaded dangle in his hair; and two types of bead necklaces. One of the necklaces is an unusual style of choker, seemingly made of soft rolls of buckskin covered with decorative beadwork. The young man carries a wooden flute decorated with otter fur and is known to have traded this or a similar instrument to Maximilian for a European whistle. His interest in music extended to Bodmer's music box, which he believed to be inhabited by a small white man who made the tinkling sounds. This portrait was reproduced as Vignette XXIV in the aquatint atlas. Mándeh-Páhchu's brother, Máhchsi-Karéhde, was also painted by Bodmer (see Image 1986.49.266).

References in Journal

March 11, 1834

Labels:

genre, portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort Clark, North Dakota