McKenney and Hall, 1836-1844 - KISH-KE-KOSH. A FOX BRAVE, from History of the Indian Tribes of North America - ca. 1838 - T-Shirt

This hand-coloured lithograph gives a dignified, close-cropped portrait of Kish-Ke-Kosh, a Fox brave, set against a cream ground.

Visual Elements & Composition

Cream fills nearly half the plate, letting the figure stand out clearly. Crimson comes next, in the red blanket draped over the shoulders and the edging on the feathered fan or staff. Tan skin tones and black face markings anchor the portrait, with a touch of green in the background. The composition is a vertical bust, with the feathered headdress, ornamented with bison-horn-like forms, rising above the frame. Printed text reads KISH-KE-KOSH and A FOX BRAVE., with the publisher line PUBLISHED BY F.W. GREENOUGH, PHILADA. beneath.

Meaning & Symbolism

The plate comes from McKenney and Hall's History of the Indian Tribes of North America, a multi-volume work that paired biographical sketches with portraits of Native leaders during a period of forced removal and rapid change across the United States. The underlying images were largely based on oil paintings by Charles Bird King, made in Washington, D.C., where tribal delegations often travelled to negotiate with government officials. Bowen and Del. in Philadelphia transformed these paintings into lithographs. The headdress, blanket, and painted face record the dress and bearing of a Fox (Meskwaki) leader and his nation's cultural identity.

On the Unisex Heavy Cotton Tee

A portrait plate is built for close viewing, and a tee carries it at chest height, where the figure can be read at a glance and noticed up close. The vertical bust suits the front of a shirt, so the headdress and face sit at the centre of the wearer's line of sight. The cream ground and crimson accents make the lithograph's original colouring the first thing you see.