Pocahontas
Artist
Joseph Mozier
(American, 1812-1890)
CultureAmerican
Date1870s
MediumMarble
DimensionsOverall: 48 1/2 x 19 x 16 7/8 in. (123.2 x 48.3 x 42.9 cm)
InscribedInscribed on base: "POCAHONTAS" and "187 " (the last digit has not been carved).
Credit LineGift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase
Object number86.493
Not on view
DescriptionMarble standing figure of Pocahontas with a deer beside her.Label TextJoseph Mozier American, 1812–1890 The Wept of Wish-ton-Wish, modeled ca. 1857–58, remodeled 1864, carved 1866 Marble far right Pocahontas, 1870s Marble These two colonial-era heroines stand at a dangerous cultural crossroads. In The Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish, which is based on James Fenimore Cooper’s 1829 novel by that name, Ruth Heathcote rejects her European ancestry and adopts the moccasins and scallop crown of the Narragansett tribe. Nearby, the Indian princess Pocahontas contemplates a cross and begins her spiritual journey into English society. Nineteenth-century Americans admired these figures, but questioned whether these worlds could ever be reconciled. Gift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase 86.494 and 86.493 Exhibition History"Inventing Pocahontas: The Creation of an American Princess," Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, February 10 - June 24, 2007. "Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend", Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA, October 24, 1994 to April 30, 1995. "The Ricau Collection," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., February 26 - April 23, 1989. "Reopening of the Joan P. Brock Galleries," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., Opening in March of 2008. Published ReferencesRobert S. Tilton, POCAHONTAS: THE EVOLUTION OF AN AMERICAN NARRATIVE (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 127, 129; Figure 21, 129. Black and white illustration. William M. S. Rasmussen and Robert S. Tilton, POCAHONTAS: HER LIFE & LEGEND (Richmond, VA: Virginia Historical Society, 1994), Fig. 23, 27, illustrated in color. (Also reproduced in color on the exhibition poster.) H. Nichols B. Clark, "Pairs of sculptures collected by James Ricau," THE MAGAZINE ANTIQUES, November 1997, 700-705. Exhibition catalog with an essay by Russell E. Burke III. HIRAM POWERS: THE LAST OF THE TRIBES. New York: Hollis Taggart Galleries. 10/05/2000: 19, #7. William M.S. Rasmussen and Robert S. Tilton, _Pocahontas: Her Life & Legend_ (Richmond, VA: Virginia Historical Society, Second Edition 2007) 26 & 27. ISBN: 0-945015-09-7
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