Tedyuscung, (sculpture).

Tedyuscung, (sculpture).

Rhind, John Massey, 1860-1936, sculptor.

Tedyuscung, (sculpture).

Indian in the Wissahickon, (sculpture).

Original wood 1856. Replacement statue dedicated June 14, 1902. Rededicated Oct. 17, 2002.

Lenox marble, painted; Base: limestone.

Sculpture: approx. H. 144 in.

(Sculpture, proper right thigh of figure:) JMR (Rear:) PRESENTED BY/MR. AND MRS. CHARLES W./HENRY/JUNE 14, 1902. signed

On a rock outcropping more than one hundred feet above the Wissahickon Creek overlooking the Wissahickon gorge is a figure of a Native American crouching on a log. He wears a long feathered headdress. His proper right hand is raised up to his forehead to shade his eyes as he surveys the distant landscape. His proper left hand comes across his body and rests on his proper right knee. The sculpture is painted red, yellow, blue, and beige.

Figure male -- Full length

Ethnic -- Indian -- Lenape

Dress -- Accessory -- Hat

Outdoor Sculpture -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia

Administered by City of Philadelphia, Fairmount Park Commission, Memorial Hall, West Park, P. O. Box 21601, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131

Located Fairmount Park, Wissahickon Valley & Rex Avenue, Council Rock, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The sculpture replaced an earlier one which was made of wood and stood on the same spot from 1856-1902. Joseph Middle, then owner of the ground, erected the wooden Indian sculpture around 1854-1856 to commemorate the 100 year of the final Indian council before the Lenape departed the region. When the wooden sculpture began to decay, Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Henry commissioned John Massey Rhind to create a replacement in stone. The original wood piece is preserved at the Germantown Historical Society. Tedyuscung (ca. 1700-1763) was the Lenni Lenape who represented the grievances of the Delaware Indians at meetings with colonial representatives in the 1750s and 1760s. The sculpture is known as Tedyuscung, but apparently neither the Henrys nor Rhind intended the sculpture to be a specific individual. Tedyuscung may not even have been to the Wissahickon, as he apparently resided in Bucks County. The sculpture is installed on the spot known as Council Rock, or Indian Rock, and was rumored to be a place where the Lenape Indians held pow wows. The cost of the sculpture was $6,500.

Treated 2001 October - 2002 June. Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust (Philadelphia, PA). Treatment report on file with owner.

Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985

City of Philadelphia, 1973.

National Park Service, American Monuments and Outdoor Sculpture Database, PA0040, 1989.

Monumental News, Aug. 1902, pg. 471.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 213.

Bach, Penny Balkin, "Public Art in Philadelphia,' Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pg. 210.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia survey, 1993.

SOS Conservation Treatment Award, 2001.

SOS Conservation Notification Report, 2002.

Monumental News, Aug. 1902, pg. 471.

Fairmount Park Art Assoc., "Sculpture of a City: Philadelphia's Treasures in Bronze & Stone," NY: Walker Publ., 1974, pg. 213.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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