Bón-són-gee, New Fire, a Band Chief

George Catlin, Bón-són-gee, New Fire, a Band Chief, 1834, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.64

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Artwork Details

Title: Bón-són-gee, New Fire, a Band Chief
Artist: George Catlin
Date: 1834
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums: oil
Mediums Description: oil on canvas
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Portrait female — New Fire
Indian — Kiowa
Object Number: 1985.66.64
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.64

Artwork Description

George Catlin called New Fire, a chief of the Kiowa, “a very good man” and described the ornaments hanging on his breast as a boar's tusk and a war whistle. Catlin painted this portrait at a Comanche village in 1834. (Catlin, <i>Letters and Notes</i>, vol. 2, no. 43, 1841; reprint 1973)