Pes-Ke-Le-Cha-Co

Henry Inman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Inman painted portraits of Native Americans in preparation for the production of hand-colored lithographs for Thomas L. McKenney’s "The History of the Indian Tribes of North America" (1836–44). These leaders had originally been painted from life by Charles Bird King, when invited to Washington by the U.S. government and greeted by President James Monroe in 1822. King’s portraits were destroyed in a fire at the Smithsonian Institution in 1865, while Inman’s series was shown in major cities from New York to London. Pes-Ke-Le-Cha-Co, Chief of the Pawnees, who wears a striking silver peace medal, is presented as a strong leader, celebrated at the time as "a firm, determined man, an expert hunter, and fearless warrior." Read a Native Perspective on this work.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art