November 20th - 22nd, 1999 Auction
Lot 1053:
John T. Bowen (American
1801-1856)
Three Portraits of North American Indians "A
Chippeway Squaw & Child", "Sha-Ha-Ka,
a Mandan Chief" and "Ong-Pa-Ton-Ga, an
Omakas Chief"
hand colored lithograph and gum Arabic
highlighting on paper
sheet size 7" x 11" each
Estimate...............$300-$500
John T. Bowen supervised the production of three major publications of prints throughout his career: McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America, John James Audubon's octavio edition of the Birds of North America, 1839 and John Cassin's Illustrations of the Birds of California, Texas, Oregon, British and Russian America, on which he worked until his death in 1856. Bowen had a reputation as the best lithographer and colorist in the nation. It was the critical consensus that he was the first American to make his lithographs equal to the best steel and copper engravings. His enthusiasm for his work was evident in his resistance to the emergence of chromolithography. He was too careful, too much the perfectionist, too fond of hand coloring to discontinue his use of "light and varied colors."
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