The War Party
(18th and 19th Centuries )
Born in Baltimore, in 1837 Miller accompanied a Capt. Stewart on an expedition to Wyoming and Utah where he drew hundreds of sketches of tribal life. He used many of the sketches for oil paintings. Miller returned to Baltimore and in 1858 commenced a commission from William Walters to produce 200 watercolors based on his early sketches. This sketch shows the Blackfeet on the war-path.
Extracts from Alfred Jacob Miller’s original text, which accompanied his images of Native Americans, shaped how Miller’s contemporaries viewed the watercolors, and reveal the racism and sexism embedded in 19th-century exploration and colonization of the western part of what is today the United States.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
William T. Walters, Baltimore, 1858-1860, by commission; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894, by inheritance; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
2006 | Alfred Jacob Miller and the Western Indians. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
1995 | The Allure of Bronze. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Geographies
USA (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 9 7/8 x W: 13 3/16 in. (25.1 x 33.5 cm)
Credit Line
Commissioned by William T. Walters, 1858-1860
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
37.1940.148