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George Catlin
Shin-ga-wás-sa, Handsome Bird , 1834
Osage/Wa-zha-zhe I-e
oil
29 x 24 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
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Catlin describes Handsome Bird as “a splendidlooking fellow, six feet eight inches high; with war club and quiver” (1848 catalogue, p. 11). Painted at Fort Gibson in 1834. The subject of the Gilcrease watercolor is incorrectly identified as Wa-chésh-uk (War) in the Gilcrease catalogue. The Smithsonian painting and the watercolor are alike in detail, but the figure is badly drawn in the latter.
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