This lot of 3 stunning hand-colored aquatint plates appeared in Prichard's early anthropological study, subtitled "comprising inquiries into the modifying influence of physical and moral agencies on the different tribes of the human family." Published by H. Bailliere.

A. Plate XXXVII. Wah-ro-nee-sah. The Surrounder. An Ottoe Chief (5.6 x 9.3"). This spectacular portrait is based on a painting by George Catlin and engraved by J. Harris. It shows the Otoe chief wearing a bearskin embellished with bear claws, beads, and feathers. He was likely a member of the Bear Clan. Catlin characterized this chief as a "quite an old man" when he painted him at Fort Leavenworth in 1832.

B. Plate XXV. Mah-to-toh-pa. (The Four Bears.) 2nd Chief of the Mandans (5.6 x 9.3"). Also based on a Catlin painting and engraved by J. Harris, this portrait shows the beloved Mandan chief Mato-tope or Four Bears. According to Catlin, "No tragedian ever trod the stage, nor gladiator ever entered the Roman Forum, with more grace and manly dignity than did Máh-to-tóh-pa enter the wigwam, where I was in readiness to receive him."

C. Plate XLIII. The Last of the Charruas (9.3 x 5.9"). This striking engraving shows the four survivors of the 1831 Massacre of Salsipuedes, the Uruguayan Army's campaign to eliminate the Indigenous Charrua people. The survivors were named Senaque, Vaimaca-Piru, Guyunusa, and Tacuabe, and they were taken to France, where they subsequently died. The painting that served as the basis for this engraving also inspired a monument in Montevideo.

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Condition: B+

The plates are all in contemporary color, with light toning and a few minor spots. On the Charrua plate, there are light tape stains in the corners, well away from the image. Remnants of hinge tape on versos.