Artist/Maker
Robert Walter Weir
(1803–1889)
Depicted
Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha)
(ca. 1750 - 1830)
Sagoyewatha, or "Red Jacket" (ca. 1758–1830)
1828
Oil on canvas
Unframed: 30 1/2 × 20 1/4 in. (77.5 × 51.4 cm)
Framed: 40 1/2 in. × 30 1/2 in. × 4 in. (102.9 × 77.5 × 10.2 cm)
Framed: 40 1/2 in. × 30 1/2 in. × 4 in. (102.9 × 77.5 × 10.2 cm)
Gift of Winthrop Chanler
1893.1
The famous Seneca Indian chief Sagoyewatha was also called Red Jacket because of the succession of red jackets he wore, the first given to him by a British officer during the Revolutionary War. A leader of his people and a great orator, he advocated friendship and co-existence with the white man but asserted the independence and ownership rights of the Indians. In 1792 Red Jacket received from George Washington a silver medal, which he is shown wearing in this portrait, painted during a visit to New York City in 1828.
SignedSigned at lower left: "R. W. Weir. 1828"
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Robert Walter Weir
1833
1911.103
