Eeh-nÃs-kim, Crystal Stone, Wife of the Chief
1832
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Accession Number
1985.66.150
Tags
About this artwork
âI have also placed upon my canvas [Crystal Stone]; her countenance is rather pleasing, which is an uncommon thing amongst the Blackfeet---her dress is made of skins, and being the youngest of a bevy of six or eight, and the last one taken under his [the chief's] guardianship, was smiled upon with great satisfaction.â Crystal Stone was the youngest wife of the Blackfoot chief Buffalo Bullâs Back Fat, the âapple of his eyeâ and âexempted . . . from the drudgeries of the camp.â Georg...
About the Artist
George Catlin · 1796–1872
George Catlin (1796–1872), born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to Putnam Catlin and Polly Sutton—who had been captured by Native Americans during the 1778 Battle of Wyoming—initially pursued a legal career. Trained at Litchfield Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1819 but abandoned law after two years to study art in Philadelphia in 1823. Self-taught as a portraitist, Catlin quickly gained ...