This lithograph, published as the frontispiece to James Birchett Ransom's 1838 book on the chief, represents another in the flood of Osceola illustrations produced in the wake of his death. The work is based on an engraving by William Keenan, which in turn was based on the Curtis painting -- either the surviving portrait, or a full-length painting which has since been lost.

If Catlin's full-length portrait can be trusted as accurate, then the Pierce lithograph shows the degeneration that infected depictions of the chief as his image became more marketable. Here, Osceola appears thinner and taller, with oddly proportioned legs. His dolefulness is so complete, his costume so mannered, that he almost looks like an Elizabethan-era figure reconsidering an ill-conceived rebellion against the King.

(1 of 9 images in this series)