Mong-shóng-sha, Bending Willow, Wife of Great Chief

George Catlin, Mong-shóng-sha, Bending Willow, Wife of Great Chief, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.98
Copied George Catlin, Mong-shóng-sha, Bending Willow, Wife of Great Chief, 1832, oil on canvas, 2924 in. (73.760.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.98
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Artwork Details

Title
Mong-shóng-sha, Bending Willow, Wife of Great Chief
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
  • Portrait female — Bending Willow
  • Indian — Ponca
Object Number
1985.66.98

Artwork Description

“I visited the wigwam of [Great Chief] . . . several times,” George Catlin wrote, “and saw his four modest little wives seated around the fire, where all seemed to harmonize very well; . . . I selected [Bending Willow] . . . for her portrait, and painted it . . . in a very pretty dress of deer skins, and covered with a young buffalo's robe, which was handsomely ornamented, and worn with much grace and pleasing effect.” The artist painted this portrait at a Ponca village in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes , vol. 1, no. 26, 1841; reprint 1973)