McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - APAULY-TUSTENNUGGEE., from History of the Indian Tribes of North America - ca. 1843 - T-Shirt

This is a dignified half-length portrait of Apauly Tustennuggee, a Creek leader, rendered as a hand-coloured lithograph from the 1830s and 1840s.

Visual Elements & Composition

The sitter fills the centre of the plate against a broad field of cream paper, so the paper tone does as much to shape the image as the ink. He wears a royal blue headwrap topped with a black plume, and a striped cloth shirt with a brick red collar. A crescent gorget hangs on a beaded strap at his chest, and his face carries distinct facial markings drawn with fine, precise lines. A rectangular title cartouche bears the name APAULY-TUSTENNUGGEE, anchoring the composition in the style of a 19th-century plate.

Meaning & Symbolism

McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America set out to record the likenesses and leadership of Native delegates who travelled to Washington, D.C. Thomas McKenney, head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, commissioned the portraits primarily from Charles Bird King, whose original oil paintings were made in his Washington studio. The lithographs were produced by publisher James Otto Lewis and lithographer Lehman and Duval. The plates preserve the individuality and dignity of their subjects at a time when westward expansion and forced relocation were reshaping tribal life.

Wearing the Portrait

A portrait like this is built to be read at close range, but a shirt puts it on the chest, where it is seen from across a room and in motion. The headwrap and plume sit near the collar, so the face stays at eye level in conversation. The cartouche and the striped shirt in the print echo the clean, framed lines of a printed tee, and the red collar detail reads clearly against the cream ground.