Artwork Page for Indian Combat

Details / Information for Indian Combat

Indian Combat

1868

Edmonia Lewis

(American, c. 1844–1907)
Culture
America
Medium
marble
Measurements
Overall: 76.2 x 48.3 x 36.5 cm (30 x 19 x 14 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
American Painting and Sculpture Sundry Purchase Fund and Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2011.110
Public Domain
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Location
On view at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, Feb 14, 2026 - Jun 7, 2026
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Did You Know?

Growing up in her Indigenous community, Lewis went by a name that translates as "Wildfire."

Description

A spiraling composition with three intertwined figures, Indian Combat ranks as Edmonia Lewis’s most dynamic and complex creation. Although her Native American subjects typically exist in multiple versions, this example appears to be unique. Of Indigenous (Mississauga) and African American ancestry, Edmonia Lewis studied at Oberlin College and apprenticed with a sculptor in Boston before moving to Rome in 1866. Her sculptures were readily purchased by patrons on both sides of the Atlantic.
A marble sculpture depicts three men intertwined in hand-to-hand combat. One man is on the ground in between the other two, reaching up toward them as they fight. All three men have shoulder-length hair and are nude from the torso up.

Indian Combat

1868

Edmonia Lewis

(American, c. 1844–1907)
America

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