Tee Yee Neen Ho Ga Row Emperor of the Six Nations

Dateca. 1710

After work by John Verelst

Engraver John Simon

OriginEngland, London

MediumMezzotint engraving on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 16 1/2 × 10 1/4 in (41.91 × 26.04cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1999-48

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Tee Yee Neen Ho Ga Row Emperor of the Six Nations/ I. Verelst pinx./ I. Simon Fec./ Sold at the Rainbow and Dove the corner of Ivey bridge in the Strand"Label TextIn 1718, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood received prints of the Four Kings of Canada to hang in the Council Chamber of the Capitol. These four Iroquois leaders were escorted to England to meet with Queen Anne in 1710 by Virginia’s Governor Francis Nicholson. Their likeness was taken by court painter, John Verelst and later engraved in mezzotint. These prints likely represent the earliest authentic representations of Iroquois pictured in their native dress.ProvenanceBefore 1951, Henry Stevens (Farnham Surrey, England); 1951, purchased by Frank T. Siebert [1912-1998] (Bangor, ME); 1999, [sold, Sotheby’s, “The Frank T. Siebert Library of the North American Indian and the American Frontier,” New York, NY, May 21, 1999, Lot 129]; 1999-present, purchased by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA).