Daguerreotype Portrait of Ojibwe Chief Joshua Wawanosh Wearing His King George III Peace Medal

A significant record of Indigenous leadership, life, and cultural identity in nineteenth-century North America 

Sixth-plate studio portrait daguerreotype. Upper Canada, ca. early 1850s. Attributed to Indigenous daguerreotypist David Wawanosh (Ojibwe, eldest son of the sitter). Housed in a full dark brown pressed-paper case blind-embossed with an elegant lily motif within a stepped linear frame and corner blossoms. Interior lid retains a rose-silk facing pad.

A historic, institutional-caliber antebellum portrait of Chief Joshua Wawanosh (ca. 1781-1853), a revered Head Chief of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) of the St. Clair River region (Sarnia Reserve, Upper Canada). Posed half-length facing slightly left, the elderly chief is captured with a resolute, solemn countenance, his graying hair cropped straight across his brow in traditional fashion. Delicate period hand-tinting enlivens his cheeks and cravat.

Chief Wawanosh is attired in an extraordinary ensemble merging British colonial honors with Indigenous regalia: a tailored dark double-breasted chief's coat with broad lapels and fabric-covered buttons, worn over a light cravat and standing collar. Suspended from a broad ribbon around his neck and resting prominently against his chest is a massive King George III silver Indian Peace Medal. Around his waist is a woven sash securing what might be a fringed wampum bag at his left hip.

Born in the Lake Superior region, Joshua Wawanosh led his people as Head Chief through the transformative decades of the early-to-mid 19th century. During the War of 1812, Wawanosh forged an alliance with the British Crown against the United States, fighting alongside British forces and earning the King George III silver peace medal for his meritorious service and battlefield leadership. He was monolingual in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe), relying upon his eldest son, David Wawanosh (an eloquent English speaker who eventually succeeded him in leadership) to serve as interpreter and diplomat.

Significantly, David Wawanosh was trained as a daguerreotypist in the early 1850s, making him one of the only documented Native American photographic practitioners of the pioneer era. As noted in scholarly literature on early Canadian photography (Nineteenth Century Gender Studies / National Gallery of Canada research): "David Wawanosh is referenced in several sources on early Canadian photographers... but daguerreotypes were not commonly marked, and research has found that there are currently no works attributed to him in public collections. Yet several mid-nineteenth-century daguerreotype portraits in notable private collections are thought to have likely been taken by him. One is a sixth plate that is possibly of his father, Joshua Wawanosh, shown wearing a Chief’s coat, sash, and perhaps a King George III medal..."

Identified daguerreotypes of sovereign Native American leaders from the pioneer era are extraordinarily rare; an intimate portrait of an Ojibwe War of 1812 Head Chief wearing his British Peace Medal, attributed directly to the hand of his son, an Indigenous daguerreian artist, makes this plate a landmark document of North American history.

The William A. Turner Collection; Heritage Auctions (2007, realized $15,535 prior to definitive identification); later identified by early photographic authority and conservator Dr. Mike Robinson.

[Daguerreotype, Sixth Plate, Native Americana, Ojibwe, Chippewa, Chief Joshua Wawanosh, David Wawanosh, First Nations, Indigenous Photographer, King George III, Peace Medal, Indian Peace Medal, War of 1812, Sarnia, Upper Canada, Chief's Coat, Sash, Wampum Bag, Canadian Photography, Mike Robinson, William A. Turner Collection, Cased Image, 1850s Photography, Landmark Americana]

Very good condition. The daguerreotype demonstrates superb tonal depth and razor-sharp clarity. The plate shows only negligible scattered pinpoint dusting under the glass, free of notable clouding, bends, or damage. An extraordinary example.