A Jemez Fiscal, 1925 original vintage framed photogravure by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952) of a Native American man from Jemez Pueblo in north-central New Mexico. In Jemez society, the fiscal is an important office of the Christian church, similar to that of a governor, carried out by a revered person within the community. Christianity was introduced to the Pueblo peoples by Spanish Missionaries and the fiscal was tasked with caring for the church and other important duties including burial of the dead. Custom frame measures 28 ½ x 24 ½ x ½ inches. Image size measures 15 ½ x 11 ½ inches.
Plate 552 from portfolio 16 of Edward Sheriff Curtis' magnum opus work, "The North American Indian Project." A thirty year endeavor, the project, which was started in 1900, documents over 80 Native American tribes living west of the Mississippi between Alaska and Mexico. The North American Indian consisted of 20 volumes, each with 75 hand-pressed photogravures and 300 pages of text. A corresponding portfolio was included with each volume which contained large photogravures such as this one.