The Art and Material Culture of the Four Indian Kings Paintings By Stephen Cook Mr. Cook is Head Curator of Ethnography at the MPMRC. A Set of prints of the "Four Kings" is part of the MPMRC's archival collection. The four mezzotint prints, and the original paintings of four Iroquois sachems from which they derive, offer us a unique view of English and Native American interaction during the first decade of the eighteenth century. They document many traditional items of Iroquois material culture and illustrate the conflicting forces of change and continuity in Native society at the time. John Verelst, an obscure portrait painter of Dutch origin, was commissioned by Queen Anne to paint the most famous of three groups of portraits of the sachems. Verelst painted each of the sachems in full length, accompanied by symbolic accoutrements and background scenes. He chose to depict them not as savage curiosities but rather in a style reserved for European nobility. Each of the figures is classically posed at a slight angle to the viewer and to the side of the canvas. In typical European fashion they are each holding an object denoting their status, notably a flintlock musket, a bow, a wampum belt and a ball club. The artist also painted each sachem with his hereditary clan animal: bear, wolf and turtle. In this way he described the sachems in a format familiar to his viewers and one that indicated the sachem's social position in European terms. Verelst painted the portraits in stages, a practice which was quite common during this and later periods. The faces seem to be painted from life, evidenced by the high degree of individual detail, especially in the tattoos (It is interesting to note that the other two groups of portraits painted during the sachems' visit were miniatures, showing only the busts). The remainder of the portraits the artist painted from notes and props in his studio, maintaining a high degree of authenticity in his depictions by choosing to use a few original props repeatedly rather than inventing important cultural indicators such as moccasins and clubs. The paintings are so detailed that they deserve a more in-depth examination as ethnographic documents. All four of the sachems are depicted wearing scarlet cloaks with gold borders. These, along with complete suits in the current English fashion, were made for them in London on the Queen's orders a few days after their arrival. Although made in England the cloaks, called matchcoats, are often described in period accounts of northeastern Native attire. Tee Yee Neen Ho Ga Row is the only one of the four sachems shown wearing his English outfit of sleeved waistcoat, linen shirt, breeches, stockings and buckled shoes. As the highest ranking member of the delegation he is depicted as the statesman, complete with his badge of diplomatic office, his wampum belt (page 12.) Each of the sachems is also shown with a colorful belt around his waist. In the painting of Etow Oh Koam this belt is shown in its entirety as a sword hanger. There has been much speculation on this one article of attire and most researchers believe that it is a woven tumpline or burden strap decorated with dyed moose hair or porcupine quills - rather than a sword hanger1 . Indeed, there are several of these tumplines in museums around the world and at least one in the British Museum that is attributed to the "four Indian Kings." However, there are also examples of Native-made sword hangers from the eighteenth century constructed in a similar manner to these burden straps2 . It is unlikely, given Verelst's penchant for detail, that he simply added the hanging straps, visible in only Etow Oh Koam's portrait, to a smaller burden strap to create a sword hanger which did not exist. This hypothesis is bolstered by the depiction of the same belt in two of the other portraits where hands and cloaks are carefully positioned to block the two perpendicular tabs of the sword hanger. Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row (on page 5) is shown facing the opposite direction from the other portraits and therefore his body hides these same features. Verelst also painted each of the "Four Kings" wearing the same pair of moccasins that are unusually styled with a T-shaped seam running up the center of the foot and decorated with porcupine quillwork. The flaps are upright and edged with either quillwork or ribbon, and the moccasins are tied around the ankle with a ribbon. Several authors have pointed to the unusual seam and the upright flaps as evidence that Verelst may have invented these items. However, there is a very similar pair of moccasins in the British Museum with the same style seam and stiff upright flaps, also decorated with porcupine quill embroidery. Once again, it appears that Verelst preferred to repeat known items for which he had reliable models rather than creating attire. The paintings contain several other important items of Iroquois material culture. Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow (on page 10) the grandfather of the famous Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, has very elaborate tattoos on his chest, neck and arms. He is also shown with a porcupine-quilled shot pouch draped over his belt. There are a dozen or so of these items from collections around the world (of which the MPMRC has three), and this painting helps to identify a particular regional style and date3 . In fact, this is the earliest known depiction of a folded shot pouch, illustrating the importance of firearms in Iroquois culture at this time. Etow Oh Koam, the Mahican sachem (large image on front cover,) is holding a ball club that research has shown to be typical of the seventeenth and early eighteenth century southern New England and Hudson river valley areas. It is very similar to a club that is in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford England. The only object that appears to be out of place is the bow and quiver in the portrait of Ho Nee Yeath Taw No Row (page 5.) The bow is the correct form, being straight, but is most likely made for a child due to its size. The quiver is another matter and appears to be either invented by Verelst or to be of foreign manufacture since it does not match known Iroquois quivers. The paintings were highly regarded in their time and no less than three editions of mezzotint engravings were made from them (the MPMRC owns one set). They became the standard for depicting Native people in both Europe and the colonies for almost a hundred years and were widely copied. They represent a unique document in the history of European and Native American cultural exchanges and are a valuable record of Iroquois and Mahican material culture at the beginning of the eighteenth century. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Brasser, Ted J.,1970. Bo'jou, Neejee; Profiles of Canadian Indian Art. Ottawa, Canada: National Museum of Man. Garratt, John G., 1985, The Four Kings. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Government Printing Centre. King, J.C.H., Thunderbird and Lightning. London, England: British Museum Publications, First Peoples, First Contacts. London, England: British Museum Press. FOOTNOTES: 1 Tumplines or burden straps were 24" bands of woven fiber with long cordage straps attached to the two ends. They were used to carry heavy burdens with the strap on the forehead and the load carried with the two straps at the back. The MPMRC has an excellent example in the Daily Life Gallery off of the Village exhibit. 2 These is an excellent example of a loom woven quilled sword hanger that was originally owned by Sir William Johnson, who was head of British Indian Affairs during the mid 18th century, and was on good terms with the Mohawk Joseph Brant, as he was married to Brant's sister. See Brasser, p143. 3 One of these is on display in the Daily Life Gallery off of the Village exhibit.