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After Mason Chamberlin, 1768
Details
The Reverend Mr. Samson Occom
After Mason Chamberlin, 1768
CHAMBERLIN, Mason (1727-1787), after. [The Reverend Mr. Samson Occom. London: c.1768.]
Mezzotint portrait of Samson Occum, 1723-1792. A rare image, this was published during Occum's fund-raising tour to England, made on behalf of Eleazar Wheelock for the founding of a school for Native American Christians. Occum himself was a member of the Mohegan Nation, raised traditionally until his conversion to Christianity in his teens. He studied theology under Eleazar Wheelock and became the first Native missionary to Europe. Between February 1766 and July 1767, Occum preached over 300 sermons, and raised £12,000, including a donation of £200 from George III. On his return, however, Occum fell out with Wheelock, both because Wheelock had allowed Occum's wife and children to fall into poverty and because he made the decision to open the school to non-Natives students, instead of just Indians as had been earlier agreed.
Occum went on to write the earliest known autobiography by a Native American; and his first published book, A Sermon preached at the execution of Moses Paul, went into at least 19 editions. Moses Paul was a fellow Mohegan Christian. This portrait depicts Occum as a solid and serious minister of the faith, his right hand gesturing to the open Bible on his lectern, but with a spear and two arrows mounted on the wall behind him. Although his name is more commonly spelled "Samson Occom," recent scholarship suggests "Samson Occum" was preferred by bilingual Natives as it is more consistent with Mohegan pronunciation.
Mezzotint, 360 x 258mm sheet, proof before letters (affixed to album leaf, light surface rubbing, faint pencil captioning). Matted and framed.
After Mason Chamberlin, 1768
CHAMBERLIN, Mason (1727-1787), after. [The Reverend Mr. Samson Occom. London: c.1768.]
Mezzotint portrait of Samson Occum, 1723-1792. A rare image, this was published during Occum's fund-raising tour to England, made on behalf of Eleazar Wheelock for the founding of a school for Native American Christians. Occum himself was a member of the Mohegan Nation, raised traditionally until his conversion to Christianity in his teens. He studied theology under Eleazar Wheelock and became the first Native missionary to Europe. Between February 1766 and July 1767, Occum preached over 300 sermons, and raised £12,000, including a donation of £200 from George III. On his return, however, Occum fell out with Wheelock, both because Wheelock had allowed Occum's wife and children to fall into poverty and because he made the decision to open the school to non-Natives students, instead of just Indians as had been earlier agreed.
Occum went on to write the earliest known autobiography by a Native American; and his first published book, A Sermon preached at the execution of Moses Paul, went into at least 19 editions. Moses Paul was a fellow Mohegan Christian. This portrait depicts Occum as a solid and serious minister of the faith, his right hand gesturing to the open Bible on his lectern, but with a spear and two arrows mounted on the wall behind him. Although his name is more commonly spelled "Samson Occom," recent scholarship suggests "Samson Occum" was preferred by bilingual Natives as it is more consistent with Mohegan pronunciation.
Mezzotint, 360 x 258mm sheet, proof before letters (affixed to album leaf, light surface rubbing, faint pencil captioning). Matted and framed.
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Christina Geiger
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