Manabosho's Devices 1849 - 1855

drawing

pastel soft colours

cake food

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culinary art

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united-states

watercolour bleed

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“Manabosho’s Devices” is a watercolor drawing by Seth Eastman from 1849-1855, depicting the pictographs of the Ojibwe creation deity, Manabosho. Eastman, an American military officer and artist, documented Native American life and culture during the 19th century. He often used his artistic talent to represent indigenous peoples in a more authentic way than had previously been done. Eastman's work is considered a valuable record of Native American culture and history, and is admired for its beauty and accuracy.

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minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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Henry Rowe Schoolcraft reportedly collected these pictographs, which he named for the mythic Ojibwe character Manabosho, around Lake Superior. Although it is unclear how accurately the pictographs were transcribed, they were intended to describe a story, chant, or historical event. Seth Eastman painted four sheets of pictographs as the basis for the illustrations in Schoolcraft's "Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States" (1851-57), and these original watercolors are among the 35 works on paper by Eastman in Mia’s collection.