Howling Wolf (Ho-na-nist-to)


Southern Cheyenne, (1849–1927), on a large-format sheet of unlined paper, a description of the scene overhead: "Osage and Cheyenne chiefs, having been long at war making friends", in pencil, ink, and pastels, signed lower right quadrant, matted and framed. size (sight) 12 1/ x 15 3/4in
|ProvenanceAn old British family collection, purportedly brought to England by a relative associated with the U.S. government in the latter part of the 19th centuryFor a lengthy dissertation on Howling Wolf as a warrior-artist, see Szabo, Joyce M., 1994, Howling Wolf and the History of Ledger Art, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. More particularly, based on illustrations and identifications from the book it would appear that the individual to the right in this lot is Howling Wolf himself. Such depictions as autobiography were not unusual for him during his time as a captive of the U.S. government when he developed his talent for portraying past glories. Various drawings from the book show a man, identified as Howling Wolf, wearing what would be the same dark-sleeved shirt with fringed epaulets, ermine tails, and beaded strip pattern, arm bands, a war bonnet and German silver belt trailer of equal length, while shown with his war pony, its tail tied up in distinctive and identical fashion. In figure 43, p. 108, Howling Wolf is seen holding an American flag of six stars; plate 31, p. 159 depicts him in much of the same attire; in figure 61, p. 168 his horse's tail is bound and adorned in the same warrior style.The meticulous attention to detail in this drawing, the use of multi-colored crayons to create a foreground, and, of course, the signature, all help to attribute the work to Howling Wolf, a legendary hero of the Southern Cheyenne and one of the foremost contributors to the development of Plains ledger art.