Bronze Hound's Art Collection: Once a Trophy, Now a Statue, Maybe Soon a Lamp!

Through yet another online auction about two years ago, I acquired this bronze mystery. I paid a hefty price for it (for my wallet, that is!), but it was so striking that I felt it should be a part of my collection. When it arrived at my home, I began looking for a signature or foundry chop marks, or really anything that might identify or date it. I found nothing.

The marble base is clearly not the original and the details of the figure are not as crisp as most sculptures that I've seen, though it is definitely well made. Since the base is just a standard marble lamp base and not that old or special, I've been considering turning it into a lamp by adding a thin tube of blacked out bronze that is bent to a curve with a small light at the upper end. I'd make a stained glass "shade" for it shaped like a star that would fit over the small bulb, possibly with an arrow in it too. Shoot for the stars, I say!

I searched for almost a year before I finally found out where this came from, and it was a bit of a surprise. While surfing online auctions one day, I decided to add the word "trophy" to my search terms. Up popped this statue albeit on its original base! It turns out that my Indian archer is actually the top from a trophy that had been given out in the 'teens through the '30's by Stanley Home Products, a part of the Fuller Brush Company. The one I saw for sale had been awarded in the early '20's to a salesman. The complete trophy sold for well in excess of double what I paid for the top alone, and since that's the part I like best, it made me even happier with my purchase. For a nice piece that is almost a hundred years old, it's in beautiful condition.

Edit: I've just acquired an original Stanley Home Products trophy, complete with the original wood base and engraved plaque. It is missing the bow, but I'll make a new one. I have plenty of odd gauges of brass wire in my workshop... This one dates to 1957, so it looks like more research is called for! Pics to follow soon...