Ponca Nation, Ponca City, Oklahoma
circa 1910
Photograph on photographer's mat by Drake, Ponca City, Oklahoma
8" / 20.32 cm x 6" / 15.24 cm
Provenance: Private collection, Upstate New York
This mounted photograph depicts the Ponca figure identified as Chief Sits on the Hill, photographed by Drake of Ponca City, Oklahoma, within the early 20th-century studio tradition of named Native American portrait photography in the region. The image shows two figures, one standing and one seated, both presented in carefully arranged dress with beadwork, feather ornament, and personal adornment consistent with formal portrait conventions of the period. Drake's printed studio mark on the mount places the work firmly within his Ponca City practice.
The studio chair, painted backdrop, and full-length framing give the portrait a formal public quality rather than a casual documentary view, consistent with the tradition of presenting Native leaders and community members for both personal and commercial audiences during the early reservation period. As an identified Ponca photograph with a named sitter, the work records leadership, family, or community presence and visual self-representation in a way that anonymous Plains portraits do not. The photographer's mat is retained, adding physical integrity to the object.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Ponca Nation, Ponca City, Oklahoma
circa 1910
Photograph on photographer's mat by Drake, Ponca City, Oklahoma
8" / 20.32 cm x 6" / 15.24 cm
Provenance: Private collection, Upstate New York
This mounted photograph depicts the Ponca figure identified as Chief Sits on the Hill, photographed by Drake of Ponca City, Oklahoma, within the early 20th-century studio tradition of named Native American portrait photography in the region. The image shows two figures, one standing and one seated, both presented in carefully arranged dress with beadwork, feather ornament, and personal adornment consistent with formal portrait conventions of the period. Drake's printed studio mark on the mount places the work firmly within his Ponca City practice.
The studio chair, painted backdrop, and full-length framing give the portrait a formal public quality rather than a casual documentary view, consistent with the tradition of presenting Native leaders and community members for both personal and commercial audiences during the early reservation period. As an identified Ponca photograph with a named sitter, the work records leadership, family, or community presence and visual self-representation in a way that anonymous Plains portraits do not. The photographer's mat is retained, adding physical integrity to the object.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
