Carl Bodmer – Massika Wakusasse, Saki (Sac) Indian

“Massika Wakusasse”
“Saki Indian – Indien Saki – Musquake Indianer”
“Saki Indian Musquake Indian”

Carl Bodmer (1809–1893)
Aquatint engraving after Bodmer's original work
Original hand coloring, heightened with gum arabic
Plate 3

From:

Reise in das Innere Nord-America in den Jahren 1832 bis 1834
(Travels in the Interior of North America during the Years 1832–1834)

Author: Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied (1782–1867)
Printed by: Bougeard, Paris
Published in: Paris by Arthus Bertrand; Coblenz by J. Hölscher; London by Ackermann & Co.
Publication: 1839–1842

An Important Bodmer Portrait of a Sac (Sauk) Indian

This striking portrait depicts Massika Wakusasse, identified in the original publication as a Saki (Sauk) Indian. It is an original hand-colored plate from Carl Bodmer's celebrated visual record of Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied's expedition through North America in 1832–1834.

Bodmer accompanied Maximilian on his journey up the Missouri River, documenting the Indigenous peoples, landscapes, animals, settlements, and material culture encountered during the expedition. His portraits are among the most important and accurate visual records of Native American peoples produced in the first half of the 19th century.

The expedition was undertaken by Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, a German naturalist and ethnologist whose principal objective was to study the natural history and Indigenous peoples of the American interior. Bodmer, then a young Swiss artist, created the drawings and paintings that became the basis for the magnificent plates in the resulting publication.

Bodmer and Maximilian

From 1832 to 1834, Maximilian and Bodmer traveled along the Missouri River, visiting important trading posts and Indigenous communities. Their journey brought them into contact with numerous peoples of the northern Great Plains and upper Missouri region.

Bodmer's portraits are especially valuable because they were produced from direct observation. Rather than being generic representations, they preserve details of individual people, clothing, hairstyles, ornaments, weapons, and other aspects of material culture.

The resulting Reise in das Innere Nord-America is considered one of the outstanding illustrated accounts of the American West and an essential source for the visual history of Native American peoples of the Great Plains and Missouri River region.

Exceptional Hand-Coloring

This impression is particularly attractive for its original hand coloring, heightened with gum arabic. The gum arabic produces highlights and a subtle sheen in selected areas, giving the original coloring considerable depth and luminosity.

The print is on China paper, a thin, high-quality printing paper that was mounted onto a heavier supporting sheet. It retains the Bodmer dry stamp on the supporting paper.

Condition

Very good overall condition.

The China paper has light general age toning. The heavier supporting paper surrounding the image has more pronounced spotting and foxing. The printed image itself remains attractive, and the original hand coloring is very well preserved.

China paper: 37.3 × 47.5 cm (14.7 × 18.7 in.)
Overall sheet including supporting paper: 41.3 × 53.5 cm (16.3 × 21.0 in.)

Historical Significance

Original Bodmer plates from Maximilian's expedition are highly valued for both their artistic quality and documentary importance. They preserve an extraordinarily detailed record of Native American peoples at a pivotal moment in the history of the American West, before the profound changes brought by subsequent westward expansion.

For collectors of Carl Bodmer, Maximilian of Wied, Native American history, Western Americana, ethnography, and 19th-century American exploration, this is an important original plate from one of the landmark illustrated works of the American West.