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Thayendanegea

Ezra Amesearly 19th Century, after 1806

Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery
Washington, D.C., United States

Mohawk Indian war chief Thayendanegea (who had converted to Christianity under the name of Joseph Brant), an English protégé and a colonel in the British army, was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois to take up arms against the American rebels. He was a chief organizer of Indian bands allied to the British, and his forces became the scourge of independence-minded settlers on the New York and Pennsylvania frontiers.
Resettled by the British in Canada after the Revolutionary War, Brant visited Albany in 1806, a rich man dressed in white man's clothing. At the request of a former Loyalist comrade-in-arms, he agreed to sit for his portrait, but only after makeshift Native attire was rounded up. He thought it "a compromise of his dignity to be painted in his civilized garb."

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  • Title: Thayendanegea
  • Creator: Unidentified Artist, Ezra Ames
  • Date Created: early 19th Century, after 1806
  • Physical Dimensions: w64.1 x h76.8 x d3.8 cm (Stretcher)
  • Type: Oil on canvas
  • Rights: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
  • External Link: https://npg.si.edu/portraits
  • Classification: Painting
Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery

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