Mi-néek-ee-súnk-te-ka, Mink, a Beautiful Girl

George Catlin, Mi-néek-ee-súnk-te-ka, Mink, a Beautiful Girl, 1832, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.133
Copied George Catlin, Mi-néek-ee-súnk-te-ka, Mink, a Beautiful Girl, 1832, oil on canvas, 2924 in. (73.760.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.133
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Artwork Details

Title
Mi-néek-ee-súnk-te-ka, Mink, a Beautiful Girl
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 — Mandan
  • Portrait female — Mink — waist length
Object Number
1985.66.133

Artwork Description

According to George Catlin, Mink posed in a “mountain-sheep skin dress, ornamented with porcupine-quills, beads, and elk's teeth.” He described the Mandans as “people whose complexions appear as light as half breeds; and amongst the women particularly, there are many whose skins are almost white, with the most pleasing symmetry and proportion of features; with hazel, with grey, and with blue eyes,---with mildness and sweetness of expression, and excessive modesty of demeanour, which render them exceedingly pleasing and beautiful.” Catlin painted the girl’s portrait at a Mandan village in 1832. (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 1, no. 13, 1841, reprint 1973, and 1848 Catalogue, Catlin’s Indian Gallery, SAAM online exhibition)