Philip King of Mount Hope

Paul Revere Jr.|Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags|Thomas Church

1772 · Engraving · Drawings and Prints

Early New Englanders knew the Native American chief Metacomet as King Philip. Leading the Wampanoag people around Narragansett Bay, he responded aggressively when the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies repeatedly broke treaties with the local tribes and expanded westward. "King Philip’s War" broke out in June 1675, with raids and battles fought from the Connecticut River Valley north into Maine. When a truce was made in April 1678, the Native population had been reduced by more than half and rendered effectively landless. Many colonial settlements suffered great damage, with adult male numbers decimated, the economy ruined, and the western frontier pushed back by miles. A century later, Revere produced this portrait of Metacomet to illustrate a history that glossed over the war’s true costs.

Artist

Paul Revere Jr.|Philip, Sachem of the Wampanoags|Thomas Church

Date

1772

Medium

Engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924