BODMER, Karl (1809-1893).
Offering of the Mandan Indians, Vig., 14 (State 1).
Aquatint engraving with original hand color.
From: "Travels in the Interior of North America".
Paris, London, & Coblenz, 1839-1843.
10 3/4" x 13 1/2" sheet, 20 1/4" x 23 1/4" framed.
With Blindstamp.

Maximilian was keenly interested in the several religious shrines he saw in and near the Mandan village of Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kusch. He described this one as consisting of "4 poles erected in a square, the two foremost of which are surrounded at the base by earth and pieces of turf. Between the two front poles are four buffalo skulls arranged in a row, and in the line of the two back ones are 26 human skulls, some of which have red stripes painted on them. Behind the entire shrine were two knives, thrust into the ground. At the top, the poles have bundles of twigs with a sort of comb or rake of pointed pieces of wood painted red." Along with the description, Maximilian also drew a diagram of the shrine, labeling the significant parts, and he praised Bodmer's rendition, exclaiming that he had depicted it "extremely exactly and correctly".