Description:

Peter Clapham Sheppard, OSA, RCA (1879-1965), Canadian
THUNDER CLOUD 1912-14

oil on canvas
estate stamp verso
34.5 x 24 in — 87.6 x 61 cm

Estimate: $15,000—20,000 CAD

  • Provenance: Private Collection, Toronto, ON
  • Dimensions: 34.5 x 24 in — 87.6 x 61 cm
  • Medium: oil on canvas
  • Notes: The Canadian-born subject of Peter Clapham Sheppard’s Chief Thundercloud was perhaps the most painted, photographed, and well-paid First Nations artist's model of the 19th and early 20th century. He posed at the Cleveland School of Art, the Ontario College of Art, the New York Art Students’ League, for the Toronto Arts and Letters Club and for individual artists as far-ranging as Frederick Remington, George Agnew Reid, John Singer Sargent, Emanuel Hahn and Eulabee Dix whose portrait of Thundercloud in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington bears a strong resemblance to Sheppard’s work. Thundercloud’s visage also appeared on American $5 and $20 gold coins, and some say his was the face on the American nickel. Who was this successful man?

    Thundercloud was born in 1856 as Dominique [La] Plante on the Kahnawake Reserve near Montreal, where predominantly persons of the Mohawk Nation resided. Since Thundercloud identified as Blackfoot, his mother Marie Plante Kaniratschon was likely Blackfoot and journeyed to that Nation’s lands in Alberta to raise him. From that point on, Thundercloud’s trajectory through life was amazing. He joined the U.S. Army as a scout at 15 and served in the Indian Wars from 1872-1876. In a Toronto Daily Star article (May 13, 1913) Thundercloud, dressed in western clothes, stated, “Those were wild days in the Western States -- very different times then from now. I was a scout with the American force to put down the Indian risings in Wyoming. I knew all that country well, but it was dangerous work…”

    In 1878 Thundercloud joined the Buffalo Bill show that toured through the Americas and Europe. The hugely popular Wild West extravaganza came to Toronto in 1885. During his decade-plus of appearances, the persona of “Chief Thundercloud” captured artists’ imaginations at a time when depictions of “the Noble Savage” were sought-after tropes for the colonial imagination. Young [La] Plante eagerly served as an artist's model, feeding the popular stereotypes while he made a good living, first for himself, then also for his wife and daughter. In 1896 Thundercloud had made headlines across the U.S. when he married Vassar graduate and New York City artist, Hattie Hashagan, for whom he had modeled. Some headlines evoked the era’s prejudices: “She Married a Big Injin” but others rose to the romance. Prejudice did not stand in the way of a very successful marriage whose home base was Dingmans Ferry in Pennsylvania for the next 20 years.

    In 1913 Thundercloud’s busy modeling career brought him to Toronto, where he posed at the Ontario College of Art, for the Arts and Letters Club, and for individual artists. M.O. Hammond captured his appearance at the Arts and Letters Club. Thundercloud kept modeling for another three very full years before he died of tuberculosis in 1916.

    Peter Clapham Sheppard’s Chief Thundercloud represents the complex history of what it meant to be a member of a First Nation at a time when artists’ images fed misrepresentation. While Dominique [La] Plante’s life itself perpetuated colonial stereotypes, (fighting “savages” in the Indian Wars, performing in brazen distortions of the West in the Buffalo Bill shows, and posing for settler representations, such as George Agnew Reid’s The Coming of the White Man) he was a successful businessman. Was he wrong to feed the stereotypes? It is this very complexity of the Thundercloud story that makes Peter Clapham Sheppard’s work a valuable discussion piece for any collection.

    Contributed by Angie Littlefield, an author and editor with an interest in Canadian artists. Angie is the author of the soon to be published Painted Out of the Picture: The Wives of the Group of Seven (Cormorant Books, 2027).
  • Condition: Good overall condition.
    Accretion to canvas verso not impacting recto.

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May 29, 2025 8:00 PM EDT
Toronto, ON, CA

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