Sharp’s inscriptions suggest that this work was painted in the early 1920s. A painting titled Evening Chant appeared in Cincinnati’s Traxel’s Art Galleries in 1922 and another work, titled Firelight Drummer, showed up at the same venue in 1924. The model could be Hunting Son and the mellow tones conform with canvases of this period. However, it is just as likely that the sitter is Francisco, Crucita’s son, who was serving as Sharp’s model at this time as well.
Sharp sold a 16 x 20 in. canvas he referred to in his sales ledgers as "Profile Francisco – firelight – buckskin shirt, drum" to Mrs. Fred C. Pence of Pasadena in early 1925. (Sharp Papers) There may be some connection there as well.
Firelight Drummer, “Hunting Son”
Alternate Title: Evening Chant
Record ID: 649
Date: ca. 1924
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 16 1/4 x 20 1/4 in.
Signature / Inscription: LR: J.H.SHARP. Verso: Firelight Drummer / (“Hunting Son”). On backing board in Sharp’s hand: Evening Chant-Firelight / -Teepee Interior.
Owner: Stark Museum of Art, Orange, TX
Accession Number: 31.25.31
Provenance: The artist; [?]; Charles O. Erbaugh Collection; [Jane Hiatt, La Fonda Art Gallery, Taos, New Mexico]; H.J. Lutcher Stark, 1954; present owner: Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, Orange, Texas, by bequest, 1965; accession to Stark Museum of Art, 1965