Reference Request
Finding Aids to Personal Papers and Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives
Record Unit 7066
Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872
John Mix Stanley Collection, 1852-1865, 1883-1886
Historical Note
John Mix Stanley (1814-1872), a famous painter of Indians and Indian scenes, deposited 152 paintings with the Smithsonian Institution in 1852 with the intention of selling his collection to the government. Most of the paintings were destroyed in the Smithsonian Institution fire of 1865. A list of the collection can be found in the Smithsonian catalog, Portraits of North American Indians with Sketches of Scenery, etc., 1852.
Descriptive Entry
This collection includes typewritten copies and original correspondence of Joseph Henry, Mary A. Henry, John Mix Stanley, and his family concerning the collection deposited with the Smithsonian; contract and correspondence concerning a loan made by Henry to Stanley; Henry's description of the attempts to save the paintings during the fire; contract between John R. Bartlett and Stanley concerning Bartlett's purchasing one-fourth interest in the collection; a list of the five surviving paintings; and three books printed for the Smithsonian Institution, including the catalog mentioned above, a Guide to the Smithsonian Institution, 1865, and a biography of John Mix Stanley by David I. Bushnell, Jr.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following access terms. These are links to collections with related topics, persons or places.
Name
- Stanley, John Mix, 1814-1872
- Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878
- Henry, Mary A., 1834-1903
- Bartlett, John Russell, 1805-1886
- Bushnell, David I. (David Ives), 1875-1941
Subject
Physical Characteristics of Materials in the Collection
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7066, John Mix Stanley Collection