Exhibition of Indian Tribal Ceremonies at the Olympic Theater, Philadelphia

John Lewis Krimmel|Pavel Petrovich Svinin

1811–ca. 1813 · Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on white laid paper · The American Wing

In watercolor produced for Pavel Petrovich Svinin’s "A Picturesque Voyage in North America" (1815), Krimmel illustrated Svinin’s account of an American Indian dance ceremony at an 1812 tribal delegation meeting in Philadelphia. Scholars have not, however, been able to document the occurrence of such a meeting. Svinin may have invented this narrative by combining details from two 1804 performances: one staged by an Osage delegation for Thomas Jefferson during a visit to Washington, D.C., and another a few weeks later by the same tribal representatives at New York City’s Vauxhall Gardens. Krimmel, like Svinin, had never witnessed such an event in person. Working with the sources he had at hand, he derived the figures in his council scene from works by Benjamin West and from anatomical studies he had done as a student in Philadelphia.

Artist

John Lewis Krimmel|Pavel Petrovich Svinin

Date

1811–ca. 1813

Medium

Watercolor, gouache, and graphite on white laid paper

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1942