Wi-jún-jon, Pigeon's Egg Head (The Light) Going To and Returning From Washington
1837-1839
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 73.6 × 60.9 cm
- Status
- In Museum Collection
- Collect24 Art ID
- C24-134173
Catlin mistranslated Ah-jon-jon, whose name means “The Light,” as “Pigeon's Egg Head.” The Light was an Assiniboine leader who was invited in 1831 to represent his tribe in Washington. During a winter in the nation's capital, he traded his native dress for European clothes and customs. In Catlin's before-and-after portrait, the once proud warrior, with a liquor bottle in his pocket, swaggers in h…
Provenance
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr.
Registry history
- 1837-1839 — Recorded in the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum
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