Details
Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874)
An Indian With the Scalp Lock of His Enemy
stamped with artist's thumbprint (lower right)—inscribed '20' (upper left)—inscribed with title (on the original mat)
watercolor, pencil and gouache on paper
914 x 734 in. (23.5 x 19.7 cm.)
Executed circa 1837.
Provenance
The artist.
Sir William Drummond Stewart, Murthly Castle, Perthshire, Scotland, acquired from the above, circa 1839.
Frank Nichols, Perthshire, Scotland, by descent.
Sale: Chapman's, Edinburgh, Scotland, 16-17 June 1871, sold by the above.
Bonamy Mansell Power, London.
Edward Power, London, by descent, 1900.
Major G.H. Power, Great Yarmouth, England, by descent.
Parke-Bernet, New York, 6 May 1966, lot 51, sold by the above.
Private collection, Montana.
Christie's, New York, 30 November 1999, lot 42, sold by the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
Literature
R. Tyler, ed., Alfred Jacob Miller: Artist on the Oregon Trail, Fort Worth, Texas, 1982, p. 331, no. 394A (as An Indian with the Scalp of His Enemy).
Exhibited
Denver, Colorado, Denver Art Museum, April 15-24, 1966.
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Lot Essay


The original owner of the present work, Sir William Drummond Stewart, commissioned Alfred Jacob Miller to travel to the American West with him in 1837. On the journey, Miller executed some of the earliest on-the-spot depictions of the American West, including the present work.

A related oil painting titled The Scalplock is in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, Denver, Colorado.

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