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Related institution (1838–ca. 1946)
Depicted (Sauk, 1768 – 1838)

Portrait head of Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak (also known as Black Hawk)

1837
Painted plaster
Overall: 12 1/4 × 7 × 8 1/2 in. (31.1 × 17.8 × 21.6 cm)
Purchase, General Fund
1946.360
The Sauk warrior Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak distinguished himself in 1832 when he led efforts to repel American settlers from tribal lands. In 1837, the Fowler brothers made a life cast of his head and face. The report published in The American Phrenological Journal the following year advanced racist stereotypes: it described Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak as possessing “very large organs of the animal propensities . . . , a warlike ambition, and a great love of independence and power.” This cast was part of the Phrenological Museum of Fowler & Wells, which opened in New York City in 1842. Brothers Orson Squire Fowler (1809-1887) and Lorenzo Niles Fowler (1811-1896) and their business associate Samuel Roberts Wells (1820-1875) were noted phrenologists who read heads to understand the subject's "temperament." Their Phrenological Cabinet displaying casts, skulls, and charts became a popular fixture in the city.
DescriptionPortrait head
MarkingsPaper tape inscribed: "BLACK HAWK-INDIAN CHIEF OF THE "SAC + FOX" TRIBE BORN -1768-died October -3-1838 IMMENSE PERCEPTIVE. LARGE LOCALITY AND EVENTUALITY"; small label on inside inscribed: "Black Hawk head 16-83"
ProvenanceThe Fowler Mask Collection; Furniture and Decorations, Kende Galleries at Gimbel Brothers, New York, September 20-21, 1946; purchased by New-York Historical Society, 1946.
ClassificationsSCULPTURE
Image Withheld
Unidentified artist
ca. 1838
1946.362
Me-ghe-ke-le-au-tah
Unidentified artist
mid-19th century
1946.359
Big Heart
Unidentified artist
mid-19th century
1946.361
Henry Clay (1777–1852)
Unidentified artist
mid-19th century
1946.347
Unidentified artist
INV.15
Johanna Maria ("Jenny") Lind (1820–1887)
Unidentified artist
mid 19th century
1945.246
Unidentified man (possibly of the Bowen family)
Unidentified artist
ca. 1830-1840
1944.276
Enos Thompson Throop (1784–1874)
Unidentified artist
ca. 1835
1946.198
John Quidor (1801–1881)
Unidentified artist
ca. 1825
1934.18
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
Unidentified artist
ca. 1865
1937.1139
General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben (1730–1794)
Unidentified artist
late 19th century
INV.583a