Lakota / Plains Native American
Late 19th century; attributed to Sitting Bull, Tatanka Iyotake (c. 1831–1890)
Ink and colored pencil on paperboard
8¼ × 12¼ in (21 × 31.1 cm)
Provenance: Sheryl and James Grievo, Stockton, New Jersey; Skinner, Inc., The Mr. and Mrs. James Grievo Collection of Native American Art, Boston, 18 May 2019, lot 6; Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas and New York, inv. no. P4349; Private Midwest Collector, acquired from the above
This drawing depicts a warrior on horseback, quirt in hand, in a scene of conflict with an armed opponent. The work is signed “Sitting Bull” at the lower center and has been attributed to Sitting Bull, the Lakota leader also known as Tatanka Iyotake. Its subject and composition relate to known pictographic autobiographical drawings associated with Sitting Bull’s period of confinement at Fort Randall in 1881–82.
The drawing is executed in ink and colored pencil on paperboard, with the direct linear style associated with Plains pictographic record keeping. Comparable Sitting Bull drawings are discussed in Alexis A. Praus’s 1955 Smithsonian study and in Evan M. Maurer’s Visions of the People, where similar mounted-warrior subjects are illustrated. With provenance through the Grievo Collection and Donald Ellis Gallery, the work carries a documented collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Lakota / Plains Native American
Late 19th century; attributed to Sitting Bull, Tatanka Iyotake (c. 1831–1890)
Ink and colored pencil on paperboard
8¼ × 12¼ in (21 × 31.1 cm)
Provenance: Sheryl and James Grievo, Stockton, New Jersey; Skinner, Inc., The Mr. and Mrs. James Grievo Collection of Native American Art, Boston, 18 May 2019, lot 6; Donald Ellis Gallery, Dundas and New York, inv. no. P4349; Private Midwest Collector, acquired from the above
This drawing depicts a warrior on horseback, quirt in hand, in a scene of conflict with an armed opponent. The work is signed “Sitting Bull” at the lower center and has been attributed to Sitting Bull, the Lakota leader also known as Tatanka Iyotake. Its subject and composition relate to known pictographic autobiographical drawings associated with Sitting Bull’s period of confinement at Fort Randall in 1881–82.
The drawing is executed in ink and colored pencil on paperboard, with the direct linear style associated with Plains pictographic record keeping. Comparable Sitting Bull drawings are discussed in Alexis A. Praus’s 1955 Smithsonian study and in Evan M. Maurer’s Visions of the People, where similar mounted-warrior subjects are illustrated. With provenance through the Grievo Collection and Donald Ellis Gallery, the work carries a documented collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
