George Curtis Levi (Southern Cheyenne) Ledger Art Triptych on 1869 Checks

A framed triptych of contemporary ledger art by George Curtis Levi (Southern Cheyenne), executed in pen, ink, and colored pencil directly over three original 1869 Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. / First National Bank checks drawn on Hartford and dated April 22, 1869. The top and middle works are signed in pencil lower right "George Levi Chy" and dated 2016 with copyright mark; the lower work is unsigned on the face. Verso of the backing is inscribed in graphite "George Curtis Levi / Southern Cheyenne." Two compositions depict a mounted warrior with lance and feathered headdress astride a galloping red horse; the center scene shows a Cheyenne warrior pursuing a U.S. cavalry trooper on a yellow horse — a classic ledger-art narrative of plains warfare rendered on the literal paper of 19th-century American commerce.

Levi is a recognized contemporary Southern Cheyenne ledger artist working in the tradition revived by Plains prisoners at Fort Marion in the 1870s, in which warriors recorded battle exploits, courtship scenes, and tribal life on pages of accountants' ledgers, military rosters, and bank documents. His practice of sourcing authentic period paper — here, Reconstruction-era Hartford bank checks complete with cancellation punches, red ink stamps, and the engraved Connecticut Mutual vignette by Kellogg & Bulkeley — extends that conversation between Indigenous image-making and the documentary residue of settler institutions. His work is held in the collection of the Eiteljorg Museum and has appeared at the Heard Museum Indian Fair and Santa Fe Indian Market.

Two of the three works carry the artist's pencil signature and 2016 date with copyright mark on the face. The triptych is further inscribed verso in graphite "George Curtis Levi / Southern Cheyenne." Cancellation punches and red stamp residue on the checks are original to the 1869 documents, not added by the artist.

CONDITION

Excellent. No remarkable damage to the works on paper; cancellation holes and ink stamps are original to the 1869 checks and integral to the medium. Minor scuffs to the mahogany-finish frame.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Frame Overall: 19 1/4" H × 16 1/4" W × 1 5/8" D
• Visible Area : 9 3/4" W × 7" H 
• Medium: Pen, ink, and colored pencil on period bank checks
• Substrate: 1869 Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. / First National Bank checks, Hartford; lithographed by Kellogg & Bulkeley, Hfd.
• Signed & Dated: Two works signed "George Levi Chy" and dated 2016, lower right; verso inscribed "George Curtis Levi / Southern Cheyenne"
• Presentation: Double-matted in cream and oxblood, behind glass, mahogany-finish frame