[Four Indian Kings of Canada] - photo 1
[Four Indian Kings of Canada] - photo 2
[Four Indian Kings of Canada] - photo 3
[Four Indian Kings of Canada] - photo 4

[Four Indian Kings of Canada]

Lot 28
25.05.2022 17:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 277 200
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 752813
Lot 28 | [Four Indian Kings of Canada]
Estimate value
$ 40 000 – 60 000
[Four Indian Kings of Canada]John Simon after John Verelst, c.1755VERELST, John (1648-1734, artist) and SIMON, John (1675-c.1755; engraver). [Four Indian Kings.] London: for John Bowles & Son, [c.1755?]. The famous "Indian Kings" series of prints after paintings by John Verelst, second state. In the aftermath of an embarrassing military failure at Montreal, Colonial official Peter Schuyler arranged an embassy of four Native dignitaries—three from the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederation, and one Mahican man—to travel to London seeking support from the English crown against France and her Native allies. To mark the occasion of their visit in 1710 to the Court of St. James, Queen Anne commissioned Dutch artist John Verelst to paint their portraits (now part of the collections of Library and Archives Canada), and the images were soon in wider circulation in the form of the present mezzotints by John Simon. Although the four men were presented to the London court as Kings representing their tribes, the Haudenosaunee was officially neutral in the conflict between the two European powers. "The portraits’ remarkable detail has made them extraordinarily useful in understanding Mohawk and Mahican culture, but the four men were almost certainly not Tribal leaders as Schuyler claimed. They appear to have been four young men who, having formed friendly relations with British traders and officials, agreed to participate in a calculated effort to gain support from the Crown for military efforts against the French" (Pictured to the Life). "The primary purpose of Verelst’s portraits was to underscore these Native Americans’ purported status and authority," something Verelst tried to achieve by modeling them on the conventions of Irish and Scottish portraiture, which was a familiar way of depicting wild "otherness" to English audiences (Muller). The prints made their way across the Atlantic in time for a conference held in Albany in August 1711 to enlist Native support for another march on Montreal. Each of the Five Nations was presented with a complete set of prints, with one series given for the express purpose of being displayed in the longhouse at Onondaga—all in an effort to promote the potential benefits of an English-Iroquois alliance. “Verelst’s portraits played a key role in forging and maintaining colonial and imperial relations. They could do so because of their nearly universal readability, which allowed them to speak simultaneously, as it were, to individuals from different constituencies, including the queen’s ministers in London, North American colonists, the Iroquois and their different factions, and the French and their Indian allies” (ibid.). Chaloner Smith, p.1095, no.84 (Indian Kings); Pictured to the Life 35; see also Kevin R. Muller, “From Palace to Longhouse Portraits of the Four Indian Kings in a Transatlantic Context,” American Art, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Fall 2008), p. 47. Four mezzotint engravings, 355 x 256mm each to plate mark (discreet paper repairs around edges of plate mark in plate 1). Individually matted and housed in a custom half morocco box.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
25.05.2022 – 25.05.2022
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>