Otoe-Missouria, Oklahoma
1910
Photograph on photographer's mat
8" x 6" (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Upstate New York
Studio portrait photography of named Native American leaders in the early 20th century belongs to a documented tradition in which indigenous sitters wore formal dress and ceremonial objects as deliberate assertions of identity and cultural continuity. Drake of Ponca City, Oklahoma was active in the Oklahoma photographic trade of the period, producing portraits of Native sitters from the nations of the Indian Territory with attention to personal presence and material culture documentation. The photographer's mount and studio mark place this image within that regional tradition and provide the archival context that distinguishes documentary portraiture from generic studio production.
Chief Albert Ely is shown in a feather headdress and layered ceremonial adornment, holding a pipe and posed in three-quarter view, the composition focused on the sitter's face, clothing, and ceremonial objects. As a historical photograph of an identified Otoe-Missouria subject, the work records a specific individual at a moment when portrait photography served both documentary and collecting purposes. Provenance traces to a private collection in Upstate New York.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Otoe-Missouria, Oklahoma
1910
Photograph on photographer's mat
8" x 6" (20.3 x 15.2 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Upstate New York
Studio portrait photography of named Native American leaders in the early 20th century belongs to a documented tradition in which indigenous sitters wore formal dress and ceremonial objects as deliberate assertions of identity and cultural continuity. Drake of Ponca City, Oklahoma was active in the Oklahoma photographic trade of the period, producing portraits of Native sitters from the nations of the Indian Territory with attention to personal presence and material culture documentation. The photographer's mount and studio mark place this image within that regional tradition and provide the archival context that distinguishes documentary portraiture from generic studio production.
Chief Albert Ely is shown in a feather headdress and layered ceremonial adornment, holding a pipe and posed in three-quarter view, the composition focused on the sitter's face, clothing, and ceremonial objects. As a historical photograph of an identified Otoe-Missouria subject, the work records a specific individual at a moment when portrait photography served both documentary and collecting purposes. Provenance traces to a private collection in Upstate New York.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
