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, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 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
Artist
Date
1832
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Portrait female — Bending Willow
  • Indian — Ponca
Object Number
1985.66.98
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/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)