The Old Print Shop

KITCH-EE-I-AA-BA or the Big Buck. A Chippewa Chief.

  • ARTIST: James Otto Lewis

  • PUBLISHER: Published in Philadelphia.

  • MEDIUM: Lithograph, hand-colored,

    DATE: 1834-36.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 9 x 7 1/2" (230 x 185 mm).

  • DESCRIPTION: Hand-colored lithograph by Lehman & Duval. The Aboriginal Port-Folio of James Otto Lewis was, as he himself advertised, the first attempt to publish a portrait series of Indians involved in the treaty-making of the 1820s and early 1830s. Lewis was hired by the federal government to accompany Gov. Lewis Cass of Michigan to the treaty sites to make a visual record. Despite the historic importance of Lewis' artistic legacy, it was eclipsed shortly after its publication in 1834-36 by the more polished productions of George Catlin and McKenney and Hall. Precisely because of the Port-Folio's commercial failure, complete sets are rare today and even individual plates are scarce.

  • ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • CONDITION: Fair condition. Lower margin trimmed off. Tear in title.

  • REFERENCE: Howes, U.S.iana, L-315.