|Native American Indian Woman - Artist unknown|
His assertion was based on an exhibit at the Musee du Nouveau Monde, in La Rochelle where both the painting of the woman in the image above as well as one of a native American man in the image below. They were shown together apparently in the exhibit and the museum furthermore attributed them both to George Heriot.
|North American Indian Man - Artist Unknown|
|Metis Falls on the Lower St. Lawrence by George Heriot|
|City of Quebec from Point Levy - Heriot 1792 National Gallery of Canada|
|Quebec from the Beaupoint Ferry by Thomas Davies 1787|
|Native American Adoption Scene from Father Joseph Lafitau|
Mohawk (Maquaes) Indian with two palisaded villages.
From the pamphlet by Johannes Megapolensis,
“A Short Account of the Mohawk Indians,” published 1644.
It remains his most published image of Native Americans and perhaps his most accurate. When simply looking at it without any other context, the laymen would gain a fair assessment of life in the late colonial period for Northeastern Natives. But looking at it critically, and from a basis of deeper understanding of the period and other artists we see perhaps the truth behind Heriots work.
Consider this detail. Knowing now, how much heriot pulled from other artists works is this woman simply really what Heriot saw or is the earlier image from actually the inspiration? Or is there another image perhaps that Heriot saw which is the original?
Is the "Habit of a Wiendot Woman" in the image below from the 1780's the actual woman and the Heriot woman simply an inspired image? It is clear we must consider nearly all of Heriots work with native American themes as having been inspired by other artists.
The last little mystery in the world of Heriots images is this intriguing watercolor from the Royal Ontario Museum. Could this be the original image that Heriot uses in his "Costumes" painting? The R.O.M. claims it was made by Catherine R. Prendergast in 1810. Prendergast is more well known through her marriage to William Hamilton Merritt who was captured at the Battle of Lundy Lane in the War of 1812 and subsequently carried on a courtship by remote as a prisoner of war. He met Catherine prior to the war while on a business trip to NY. The Prendergast family was a prominent business family at the time. At the time of this writing I could not find any information as to what Catherine's occupation was or where she spent her time. Nor could I find any connection to her possible artistic career. It is entirely possible that she was simply the owner of the image at the R.O.M. but perhaps a reader might have a clue. I have some letters of inquiry floating out in cyberspace and if more information regarding the image surface i will add an attachment to this post.
I hope this paper convinces the readers that George Heriots work in regards to his Native American subjects shouldn't be viewed as an accurate and authentic vision of Native peoples. The overwhelming evidence points to an amalgam of depictions and a real caricature of Native life.
Michael J. Galban