Stomíck-Sosáck, Kainai Blackfoot Chief

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Artist

Karl Bodmer

Birth and death dates

1809 - 1893

Artist Nationality

Swiss

Title

Stomíck-Sosáck, Kainai Blackfoot Chief

Date

September 4, 1833

Dimensions

12 1/2 × 9 15/16 in. (31.8 × 25.2 cm)

Medium

Watercolor and graphite on paper

Institution

Joslyn Art Museum

Credit Line

Gift of the Enron Art Foundation

Accession Number

1986.49.286

Rights (i.e. copyright information)

Joslyn Art Museum

Photographer credit

Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2019

Commentary

Stomíck-Sosáck was an important Kainai chief, probably about fifty years old at the time this sketch was done at Fort McKenzie in September, 1833. Maximilian's translation of Stomíck-Sosáck is "Bull's Hide." Catlin, who met and painted the chief in 1832, gives the name as "Bull's Back Fat." It is this name by which he is more commonly remembered. Stomíck-Sosáck was in a hurry that day in September, and Bodmer had to work quickly. His portrait nonetheless conveys the same quiet dignity as Catlin's more elaborate rendering. The chief is wearing a shirt made of red cloth and painted skin and a peace medal suspended from a beaded cord around his neck. Maximilian tells us that the medal bears the image of President Jefferson, though Bodmer here has portrayed the obverse, showing the traditional clasped hands and crossed tomahawk and pipe. Stomíck-Sosáck was pictured in Tableau 46 of the aquatints along with two other Blackfeet chiefs.

References in Journal

September 4, 1833

Labels:

portrait

Approximate Depicted Location:

Fort McKenzie, Montana