Sir William Johnson’s Seal or Rufus Grider’s Imagination
A Short Story on Historical Authenticity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21368929 |
|---|---|
| Authors | William A Starna (SUNY Oneonta, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 90 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 35-47 |
| Publication date | 2023-01-13 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Pennsylvania History A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-4528 • E-ISSN: 2153-2109 |
| Publisher | The Pennsylvania State University Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5325/pennhistory.90.1.0035 |
| OpenAlex | W4319995881 |
| Language | EN |
In a collection of Rufus Grider’s drawings at the New York State Library is the tracing of a document attributed to Sir William Johnson, acquired from the Senecas of western New York in 1898. An undated version appears in the published Johnson papers. The tracing is of interest as it contains Grider’s reconstructed sketch of Johnson’s wax seal, the elements of which wend their way into present-day discussions of the “two row wampum” and the Covenant Chain. Once examined, however, Grider’s wax seal is found to be an invention, rendering contemporary accounts of its historical relevance dubious
Art · Art history · Computer graphics (images) · Performance art · Relevance (law) · Rendering (computer graphics) · Seal (emblem) · Sketch · Tracing · Visual arts · Classics · Computer Science · Historical Art and Culture Studies · History · Law · Photography and Visual Culture
| Highly cited | No |
|---|