Portrait of Edward Seguin, 1840

Signed and dated right center “JHS 1840”
39 x 33 in. (frame 51 x 45 in.)
Oil on canvas

This historically significant portrait captures a remarkable moment in 19th-century First Nations diplomacy and intercultural exchange, vividly embodied in the figure of Edward Seguin. Painted by James Hamilton Shegogue in 1840, the work prominently features traditional dress of the Huron-Wendat Nation, emphasizing Indigenous diplomatic traditions and their engagement with transatlantic cultural figures. As a work of American art, it straddles the threshold between performance and politics, artifice and authenticity, spectacle and sincerity.

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