A Surround

or
A “Surround” of Buffalo by Indians

Generously provided by Joslyn Art Museum

This wash drawing is probably the preliminary study for the watercolor commissioned by William Walters, A “Surround” of Buffalo by Indians (CR# 352F). It was owned by a member of the Miller family, which would suggest that it had once been a part of the artist’s studio collection. This was not the first time that Miller pictured a buffalo surround, but it may have been the first time he inserted Indian women on the left side of the composition as observers of the hunt. The earlier iterations of this scene have Stewart watching from above the fray (CR# 352A).

Peter H. Hassrick

Artist: Alfred Jacob Miller
Date: ca. 1858
Catalogue Number: 352
Medium: Wash on paper
Inscriptions: LL: ‘A Surround’/176. LC: more space. CM: dust. Verso on mount: Carrie C. Miller / 3 Oklahoma Terrace / Annapolis/Maryland

The artist; Carrie C Miller, Annapolis, MD; Porter Collection; present owner