Bronze Hound's Art Collection: Mary B. Parker Adelsperger (1876-1969)

I have a rather odd story to tell about these two pieces. Some time ago I purchased this bronze in an online auction. It was not signed, dated or numbered - it had literally nothing written on it. When I inquired of the seller (who was located in Delaware) about the history of the piece, I was told it was purchased at an estate sale and they didn't have any more information on it. Since it was exactly in keeping with the rest of my collection, I didn't mind the mystery. I set out to discover what I could about it. I contacted several appraisers and experts on Western bronzes and searched for days with Google, all to no avail. Even the experts couldn't give me the smallest clue as to its creator or origin.

Last summer I finally found the answer, and once I did the information just kept unfolding for me. The story is even more interesting than I could have imagined. It turns out that the bronze is not old at all! It was cast in Ellendale, Delaware by a small bronze foundry that had used an antique incense burner as a model. They have another copy of this piece for sale on Etsy for significantly more than I paid for mine. I managed to track down one of the original incense burners as well, and bought a pristine example online too. It's in amazing shape considering it was made of plaster almost 100 years ago and was meant to be discarded when the incense ran out! The two now sit side-by-side in my display cabinet, the very antique plaster original (meant to be an inexpensive novelty) and the virtually new bronze copy (meant to be much higher priced art).

The artist, Mary B. Parker Adelsperger, was a sculptor of some note who lived and worked primarily in Chicago. She studied at the Art Institute of Chicago under Solon Borglum (brother of Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mt. Rushmore - more on him later) and actually held patents on the coloring of intaglio prints. She became noted later in life as a humorist as well. She had been commissioned by the Louis Lucas Company AKA American Incense Company (the oldest incense company in the US) in Jamestown, New York to create several figural incense burners for them and had apparently created many over several years. This one, titled "First American," was copyrighted in 1919 by Louis Lucas Co. (I can only assume this was a "work for hire" commission). Ms. Adelsperger passed away in 1969 in New York. Since the copyright has long since expired, it's OK for them to copy it.

I find it terrifically amusing that the copy is really worth more than the original itself. This could have easily wound up a "caveat emptor" post, but to me the story alone is worth what I spent on these two!