Description:

BENJAMIN WEST ENGRAVING OF INDIANS GIVING UP ENGLISH CAPTIVES
BENJAMIN WEST (1738 - 1820) American painter who gained fame by his historical paintings, a charter member of the Royal Academy and one of the founding fathers of American art. Scarce and important engraving after a painting by West: The Indians delivering up the English Captives to Colonel Bouquet; near his Camp at the Forks of Muskinggum in North America in Nov.r 1764, 6 3/6" x 9", the farthest margins showing traces on verso that page was once inlaid (1/8"), with widely-scattered foxing, primarily at margins. Overall very good condition. This plate originates from William Smith's "An Historical Account of the Expedition Against the Ohio Indians, in the year MDCCLXIV. Under the Command of Henry Bouquet, Esq. Colonel of Foot, and now Brigadier General in America ...", (London: Re-printed for T. Jefferies, Geographer to his Majesty at Charing Cross, 1766), 72 pp. Bouquet insisted that in return for sparing their villages, Indians turn over all captured whites to him, a policy that resulted in considerable anguish for many involved. The combination of word and image in Smith's book makes clear that Native Americans treated captives well, often incorporating them into their own families. In this pathetic scene, a white boy recoils from a British soldier, seeking refuge in the arms of his adopted Indian mother and father, probably the only parents the child remembers.

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January 31, 2013 11:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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