Bidspirit auction | Edward Curtis, Folio - Chief

Edward Curtis, Folio - Chief Hector Assiniboin - Curtis's description of the image: The Assiniboin are an offshoot of the Yanktonai Sioux, from whom they separated prior to 1640. The southern branch has long been confined on a reservation in Montana, the northern is resident in Alberta. The latter is divided into two bands, which formerly ranged respectively north and south of Bow river, from the Rocky mountains out upon the prairies. Hector is chief of the southern band of the Canadian branch known locally as Bear's Paw band. Description of the work: This moving photogravure in folio size is from Edward Curtis's The North American Indian being a Series of Volumes Picturing and Describing the Indians of the United States and Alaska. Edited by Frederick Webb Hodge. Foreword by Theodore Roosevelt. Field Research conducted under the patronage of J. Pierpont Morgan . The work was published in 1928 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The photogravure is on Japanese vellum. The photogravures depict Native Americans from the Chipewyan, Cree and Sarsi cultures. Curtis's work was a remarkable record of native American life and one of the most ambitious anthropological studies done. W. H. Holmes, Chief of the Bureau of American Ethnology in 1910, stated that this ”publication should last for a thousand years.” The North American Indian was referred to as “the most gigantic undertaking since the making of the King James Edition of the Bible” and containing “the most exquisite book art of our time.” Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) was an American photographer and ultimately historian of the American West. He travelled extensively for three decades living with the Native American tribes. He immersed himself in their customs, languages and beliefs. He detailed and photographed the tribes creating a truly comprehensive look into their lives. Paper Size: ~ 17 1/2” by 21 1/2” Paper Type or Special Features: Photogravure