HODGE— INDIAN PORTRAIT GALLERY 



tion remained in the Smithsonian Institution continuously, except for 

 temporary removals for exhibition elsewhere, the artist owner aug- 

 menting it from time to time with portraits of individuals belonging 

 to Indian deputations which visited Washington, until by the begin- 

 ning of 1865 it numbered about two hundred paintings, nearly all of 

 life size. In 1859, Stanley, apparently ever hopeful that Congress 

 would listen to Secretary Henry's appeal, asked the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution for an allowance of $100 a year to meet the interest on a debt 

 he had incurred to prevent the sacrifice of his paintings by sale. Such 

 is the pitiful story of his poverty while yet the owner of a collection 

 of paintings then valued at $20,000, but which, did they exist today, 

 would be well-nigh priceless. In 1858 Henry wrote that the Indian 

 paintings deposited with the Smithsonian Institution, then number- 

 ing probably three hundred and fifty canvases, "form perhaps the 

 most valuable collection in existence of illustrations of the features, 

 costumes, and habits of the aborigines of this country. This gallery 

 is an object of special interest to all visitors to the national metropolis, 

 and to none more so than to the deputations of Indians frequently 

 called to Washington to transact business with the Government." 



And now comes the final word on the National Indian Gallery. 

 On January 15, 1865, a serious fire destroyed a part of the Smithsonian 

 building as well as the entire collection of Indian paintings with the 

 exception of a few by Stanley which hung in another part of the build- 

 ing, and a few by King. 



King died at Washington in 1862, and thus never knew the fate 

 that befell the original Indian Gallery. Stanley returned to his home 

 in Detroit probably as early as 1863, where he pursued his art until 

 his death in 1872. King bequeathed to the Redwood Library of 

 Newport, Rhode Island, his native city, a collection of twenty-one 

 Indian portraits, sixteen of which are replicas of contemporary pic- 

 tures reproduced in McKenney and Hall's work. In addition two 

 are in the University Museum at Philadelphia, three in the National 

 Museum (pi. 1, 11), and a few others have made their appearance 

 from time to time, and after passing through the hands of booksellers 

 or by way of the auction mart have found resting-places, it is hoped, 

 in permanent depositories. 



Bureau of American Ethnology 

 Washington, D.C. 



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