McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - KISH-KAL-WA. A SHAWANOE CHIEF., from History of the Indian Tribes of North - ca. 1838 - T-Shirt

This hand-coloured lithograph presents a bust-length portrait of Kish-Kal-Wa, a Shawanoe chief, framed as a formal plate with his name and title printed beneath.

Visual Elements & Composition

The image is dominated by a warm cream ground that frames a vignetted bust, with the figure's tan skin and a man's blue tunic as the main colour notes. A brick-red feather headdress with a ribbon band crowns the portrait, and small touches of colour mark the details: red face paint on the cheeks, a silver crescent nose ring, and hoop earrings. Beneath the plate sits a rectangular caption block reading KISH-KAL-WA and A SHAWANOE CHIEF, along with the publisher line PUBLISHED BY F. W. GREENOUGH, PHILAD.

Meaning & Symbolism

The portrait comes from History of the Indian Tribes of North America, by Thomas L. McKenney and James Hall, and the lithographs in that work were based on oil portraits in the War Department's Indian Gallery. They recorded the faces of Native American delegates who travelled to Washington, D.C., during the 1830s, a period of intense pressure from the expanding United States. Each plate preserves a leader's likeness and name, so the sitter is documented as a figure of standing rather than as an anonymous subject. The work remains a cornerstone of nineteenth-century American lithography and ethnological history.

Wearing the Portrait

A portrait like this is built to be read at close range, and a tee puts it on the chest where the eye meets it directly. The cream field, the blue tunic and the red headdress carry the composition onto the shirt, so the plate's own caption and publisher line stay in view as part of the design. Choose the shirt for the image itself: a historical likeness of a Shawanoe chief, printed as a faithful reproduction of the original plate.