Tchong-tas-sáb-bee, Black Dog, Second Chief

About this artwork

“Amongst the chiefs of the Osages, and probably the next in authority and respect in the tribe [to Cler-mónt], is Tchong-tas-sab-bee, the black dog, whom I painted also at full length, with his pipe in one hand, and his tomahawk in the other; his head shaved, and ornamented with a beautiful crest of deers' hair, and his body wrapped in a huge mackinaw blanket. This dignitary, who is blind in the left eye, is one of the most conspicuous characters in all this country, rendered so by his huge s...

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 ...