Hón-je-a-pút‑o, Wife of Bear-catcher

George Catlin, Hón-je-a-pút-o, Wife of Bear-catcher, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.28
Copied George Catlin, Hón-je-a-pút-o, Wife of Bear-catcher, 1832, oil on canvas, 2924 in. (73.760.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.28
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Artwork Details

Title
Hón-je-a-pút‑o, Wife of Bear-catcher
Date
1832
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
2924 in. (73.760.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Keywords
  • Indian — Kansas
  • Portrait female — Hon Je A Put O
Object Number
1985.66.28

Artwork Description

“I have visited forty-eight different tribes, the greater part of which I found speaking different languages, and containing in all 400,000 souls. I have brought home safe, and in good order, 310 portraits in oil, all painted in their native dress, and in their own wigwams . . . as well as a very extensive and curious collection of their costumes, and all their other manufactures, from the size of a wigwam down to the size of a quill or a rattle.” George Catlin probably painted Hón-je-a-pút-o, a member of the Kansas/Kaw tribe, at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 1, 1841; reprint 1973)