Wakechai (Crouching Eagle), A Sauk Chief is one of approximately 143 paintings Charles Bird King completed between 1821 and 1837 for the National Government. The present work depicts Wakechai, also known as Crouching Eagle, who was a member of the Sauk and Fox delegation.

King renders Wakechai with exceptional detail. Set against a rich green background, the sitter is adorned with fine accoutrements such as a white fur robe, silver arm band, glass bead pendant and black headpiece with ostrich feathers. Thomas McKenney, United States Superintendent of Indian Trade, conceived the idea for a series of portraits of prominent Native Americans who visited Washington D.C. in the early 19th century. An established portraitist by the early 1820s, King was commissioned by McKenney to execute the series, resulting in rich character studies of his sitters.

Members of the Indian delegation of 1825, such as the present sitter, often received copies of their portraits. The present work is an additional copy King produced for his personal collection - a practice the artist did often. As the original collection of works at the Smithsonian Institution were lost in a fire in January of 1865, only two iterations of Wakechai’s portrait survive today, including the present work and Wakechai (Crouching Eagle), Saukie Chief in the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (fig. 1). Further testifying to its significance, the present work is being offered on behalf of The Jewish Museum, New York.