Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), 1776
oil on canvas
127 x 101.6 cm
Transfer from the Canadian War Memorials, 1921
National Gallery of Canada (no. 8005)
During the American Revolutionary War, the Mohawk leader Joseph Brant (1742-1807) was given the rank of captain and fought on the side of the British. This portrait was painted on the occasion of Brant's trip to England to negotiate the role of the Iroquois Confederation of the Six Nations in the conflict. He wears the silver gorget (a piece of armour for the throat) presented to him by George III. His Mohawk name, Thayendanegea, means "two sticks bound together", denoting strength.
Frame: running moulding with carved ornament, gilded. Britain, second hald 18th century