William De La Montagne Cary Wood Engravings on Paper from Harper's Weekly

Item Details

A pair of wood engravings on paper titled Indians Offering Gifts to the Dead and Scalp Dance by William De La Montagne Cary (American, 1840-1922). The prints were both published in Harper’s Weekly in 1847. Indians Offering. Gifts to the Dead was published June 20, 1874 and Scalp Dance published September 19, 1874. Depicted are two individual scenes of unidentified western Native American Indians. The top scene displays their connection with the dead and afterlife while the other displays a more war oriented tradition of ‘scalping’ one’s enemies. Presented together with a white mat, under glass, and housed in a black lacquered wood frame.

William de la Montagne Cary was born in Rockland (Lake Tappan), NY in 1840. At the age of 20, he packed up and headed west with two friends spending six weeks at Fort Union where he began to explore and paint neighboring Indians. The men were later captured by Crow Indians on their way to Fort Benton. Cary sketched many of the abandoned forts along the Missouri during his time on the river, the Indians he came across during his travels, and the vast landscapes of the West. In 1866 he began to paint these memories and sketches where they would eventually appear in Leslie’s Weekly, Harper’s Weekly, Scribner’s, and more.

Condition

- minor scratches to the frame.

Dimensions

- measures the frame; visible images 9.5" W x 6.75" H.

Item #

17DCC160-390