London, 1776

[BRANT, Joseph (1742-1807).] Joseph Thayendaneken The Mohawk Chief. [London: 1776.]

Revolutionary War portrait of the Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. Brant journeyed to England in 1775, both for his personal safety amid threats of violence by Revolutionaries, and for an audience with King George III. Brant’s complaints about British policy towards the Mohawk in the aftermath of the French and Indian War were answered with a promise of land in Quebec, but only if Brant allied his people with the Loyalists during the Revolution. He returned to America in July 1776 and amassed “Brant’s volunteers,” a militia group which ended up being majority white. This image was published in the London Magazine around the time of his departure from London in the summer of 1776. During his visit, he was interviewed by James Boswell, the famous biographer of Samuel Johnson.

Copper-engraving, 167 x 120mm plate size on 188 x 136mm sheet. Unsigned, but with a caption below the image, “From an Original Drawing in the Possession of James Boswell, Esq." Framed.