Non-on-dá-gon, a Chief

George Catlin, Non-on-dá-gon, a Chief, 1830, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.276
Copied George Catlin, Non-on-dá-gon, a Chief, 1830, oil on canvas, 29 x 24 in. (73.7 x 60.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.276
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Artwork Details

Title
Non-on-dá-gon, a Chief
Artist
Date
1830
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 male — Non On Da Gon
  • Indian — Delaware
Object Number
1985.66.276
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1985.66.276

Artwork Description

George Catlin probably took portraits of Delaware/Lenape chiefs Non-on-dá-gon and the Answer (see 1985.66.275) at Fort Leavenworth (in today’s Kansas) in 1830. Catlin wrote at length of these images: “Non-on-dá-gon, with a silver ring in his nose, is another of the chiefs of distinction, whose history I admired very much . . . In both of these . . . [portraits] their dresses were principally of stuffs of civilized manufacture; and their heads were bound with vari-coloured handkerchiefs or shawls, which were tastefully put on like a Turkish turban.” (Catlin, Letters and Notes, vol. 2, no. 47, 1841; reprint 1973)