The 'Indian Kings' return to London
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail – Canada's National Newspaper
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
The 'Indian Kings' return to London
Almost 300 years ago, the Iroquois in these portraits travelled across the Atlantic and wowed the court of Queen Anne, writes Elizabeth Renzetti.
Now, their pictures are back for a visit.
London
In 1710, Queen Anne was so impressed with four delegates from the Iroquoian Confederacy who had travelled to England to seek her government's help that she commissioned her own artist to paint them.
The resulting portrait series, Four Indian Kings, has travelled back across the ocean almost 300 years later as a loan from the Canadian government to the National Portrait Gallery in London. The four pictures, by court painter John Verelst, form the backbone of the Portrait Gallery's new exhibition, Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain 1700-1850. The show includes paintings of visitors from India, Africa and the South Pacific as well as North America. A portrait of Joseph Brant – coincidentally, a grandson of one of the native emissaries pictured in Four Kings – is also included in the exhibition.
The four emissaries (not actually kings, but called that because only kings could meet with the queen) travelled to England early in the 18th century to secure British military aid in their battles with the French in North America. Queen Anne's court was in mourning – a fact apparently alluded to in the formal black dress worn by one of the native leaders in his portrait – but the monarch was impressed with her visitors and commissioned the four paintings.
"They made a huge impact on the British imagination," said Lilly Koltun, director of the Portrait Gallery of Canada, who is in London for the launch of the exhibition. "People were very interested in what life was like in North America at the time." Their comportment was very impressive, though they were given clothes to wear (for the portraits) that were somewhat exotic."
The four portraits remained in Britain, first in the royal collection and then in private hands, until the National Archives of Canada purchased them 30 years ago. Since then, the paintings have been lent out for exhibitions, but for the most part have been out of public view.
The National Portrait Gallery's temporary gain of the historic paintings is thanks to its Canadian counterpart still being without a home. Plans for the Portrait Gallery of Canada were announced in 2000 by the former Liberal government, and it was scheduled to open in the old U.S. embassy in Ottawa.
The Harper government has put those plans on hold and is reported in talks with EnCana about housing the gallery in the energy company's new headquarters in Calgary.
The portraits have returned to London with a portion of the fanfare that accompanied their subjects' original voyage.
A party was held for the launch of the exhibition at the Canadian High Commission, featuring officials from both the British and Canadian galleries.
The hereditary chiefs of the Six Nations, who do not carry Canadian passports and thus could not make the trip, sent Keith Jamieson, a Mohawk curator and historian to read a statement on their behalf: "We are pleased that the people of the United Kingdom will have the opportunity to revisit this shared event in our history," the statement read in part, "and we take this opportunity to remind our English allies that these portraits are an expression of our sovereignty as nations."
Between Worlds: Voyagers to Britain 1700-1850, opens tomorrow and continues until June 17 at the National Portrait Gallery, St. Martin's Place, London. Admission is free, but book ahead (020-7641-2498 or arts@westminister.gov.uk).
