Illustration of Inuit Man Kalicho

This watercolour painting is believed to be of Kalicho, one of the Inuit from Frobisher Bay who was forcibly removed by Frobisher and brought back to England. He is wearing a sealskin suit and holding a bow. Michael Lok, who was on the voyage said they brought back a ‘strannge man & his Bote, which was such a wonder unto the whole City, & to the rest of the Realm that heard of it, as seemed neuer to have happened the like great matter to any mans knowledge’.

Kalicho died shortly after arriving in England, probably from a European disease to which he had no resistance, but not before his ‘counterfeit’ (portrait) had been ‘drawn, with his boat, and other furniture both as he was in his own, and also in English apparel’. None of the original images survive, and we are unsure if this watercolour was painted from life in the voyage, in Bristol once they had landed, or after his death. Do you think this is reliable evidence? What does it tell us?

The portrayals of Kalicho, Arnaq and Nutaaq seem sympathetic and realistic, recording individual features, like hair and tattoos, and details of their clothing, including the texture of the fur and the toggle of her thong harness used to support the baby in the back of the parka. Their parkas have long dorsal flaps at the back and are the type of summer sealskin ones recorded as worn by people in this area in the nineteenth century (the next reliable source available), with lighter patches representing local decoration rather than repairs.

However, the prominent bellybuttons seem to be an added European Mannerist stylistic convention and the attachment of the hoods is problematic and may not all be correctly drawn. The trousers and skin boots are similar to those found in the area until recently, and the bow and paddle are accurate but the arrow has been conventionalised