The Sioux Brave Blackpipe by Hermon Atkins MacNeil (February 27, 1866 – October 2, 1947)

Once again, I have managed to score an impressive win in this plaque of Hermon Atkins MacNeil's studio assistant and oft-time model, Joseph Black Pipe (Lakota: Canunpa Sapa). After purchasing my casting of "A Primitive Chant To The Great Spirit" (see previous post), I found in myself a strong desire to own other works that H. A. MacNeil created of this young man. The story was just too fascinating, the art too fine to not throw my hat into the ring at the auctions. I bid on this plaque on three separate occasions over the course of two years. I missed the auction the first time it came up on the block in 2018, much to my wallet's chagrin, and failed to meet the seller's reserve in two others. In that time I also bid on the other known copy of this plaque, but the price ran swiftly to a very uncomfortably high place (with the buyer's premium especially) and I had to bow out. When I saw this plaque pop up for sale again, this time on the world's largest online auction site (yeah, one of my favorite hunting grounds), I had to try one more time. The starting bid was the same as the final bid that won the other plaque (the person who outbid me), but I knew that I would come out ahead with this one as I wouldn't have to pay a buyer's premium of around 28% (yikes). That meant I could afford to bid higher, though I was still sweating it. I was over the moon when I was not even bid up, much less outbid. 

The seller (an antiques dealer) had the plaque sent to me via an art and antiques expediter and it arrived home a mere two days after the shipper received it. Everyone involved, from the seller to the expediter to the fellows who drove the van over 470 miles to hand-deliver it to me, were all top-notch. I run out of superlatives, truly I do. If any of you happen to read this, thank you!!

This is one of at least five castings of this piece in bronze that is known by me to exist at this time (the original, believed to have been destroyed, was made of plaster). At least two of the bronzes had been cast by the legendary Roman Bronze Works in New York. The other (second to appear on the market so far) has a very even and intact ferric patina and has the Roman Bronze Works mark directly beneath the artist's signature as was more typical after Salvatore Schiavo purchased RBW in 1946. Mine has areas of antique wear to the patina, most notably to the chin and left cheek, which leads me to believe that it was frequently touched on those spots by many a hand. The patina in these areas has developed from that long familiarity and has a uniqueness that would be impossible to duplicate. The foundry mark on mine is beneath the artist's signature but is on the side, near the rim, not visible on the front as on the other bronze copy from RBW. Because the patina is as unique as a fingerprint, I've been able track this plaque through three different auction venues, each with different images that used very different lighting.

 

I have also found mentions and pictures of at least two other bronze copies, though they may be the same one photographed at different times. One was in an 1895 picture of MacNeil's Chicago studio and the other from an old auction catalogue. The bases of the two are identical yet different from the copies cast by RBW. I believe they (or it, if they're the same one) were cast by Winslow Brothers Foundry in Chicago.

In June of 1893, Buffalo Bill opened his famous Wild West Show in Chicago, on 15 acres of land adjacent to the World Columbian Expostion, which was slated to open a month later. The artists who were working furiously to fill the Exposition with sculptures and decorations would spend their breaks at the Wild West Show next door. Many of those artists, including sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil, would hang out in the performers' encampment, seeking inspiration and making friends among the nearly 200 Sioux who Buffalo Bill Cody had brought to Chicago for the show (97 were paid performers, 100 were guests of Cody's). One of these Sioux was the young man, Joseph Black Pipe.

Joseph Black Pipe was born on March 7, 1878 in Niobrara, Nebraska, where the Ponca tribe has their headquarters today, but grew up on the Rosebud Lakota Reservation not far away in South Dakota. Not much is known of his life, but my research shows that he was educated as a child at the Catholic mission school in St. Francis, SD. He spoke, read and wrote English as well as Siouan, the Lakota tongue. One can only imagine that the 15-year-old Joseph would have been pretty popular among the visitors to the Wild West Show, as he was most likely pressed into translating for the older Lakota. One thing is certain, during that summer, he and 27-year-old Hermon Atkins MacNeil met and became friendly.

After the Exhibition closed on October 31, 1893 and Buffalo Bill's show closed a day later on November 1, young Black Pipe decided to remain behind in the city. Not long after, MacNeil was walking down a street in Chicago and found the impoverished Black Pipe cold and hungry. He offered his young friend food and a place to sleep in the studio in exchange for his help as an assistant and model. As MacNeil related to interviewer J. Walker McSpadden in 1924, immediately after he had gotten his friend warmed up and got a meal into him, he sat Black Pipe down and for the next four hours sculpted his face, expecting that in the morning "his Indian" would be gone. Black Pipe was not only still there in the morning, he stayed on in the position for the next year and a half. MacNeil went on to sculpt his likeness for what would arguably become some of his most well-known works. Not only did MacNeil's early sculptures of Black Pipe kick off his career as a professional sculptor, they brought him widespread fame and even a four year, all-expenses-paid scholarship to further study sculpture in Rome, Italy. 

In the same interview, MacNeil had pointed to a bronze of Black Pipe's head, full sized, set against a flat background as if he were poking his head through, hanging as a plaque on the wall. It is likely that if indeed only two bronzes of this plaque had been cast, this one was the bronze plaque referenced by McSpadden. According to the auctioneer who first sold it in 2018, this plaque had come from a gentleman in Connecticut several years prior who had been a principal at Roman Bronze Works. He had in his house a number of plasters, molds, bronzes and incomplete pieces of bronze statues that he'd brought home as the company was winding down their operations after the foundry closed. I was told that his house was "packed," even though he had been selling off items in a piecemeal fashion. The auctioneer had purchased it directly from the gentleman, who has since passed away. Research is ongoing.

 

A period photograph of the original plaster plaque was found among MacNeil's papers after his death. This photograph resides in the Archives of American Art, which is administered by the Smithsonian. It is identical to the two bronzes (mine and the other) save in the style in which the title was written. I do not believe that MacNeil had ever had this plaque cast in bronze while he lived in Chicago though I could well be wrong. Money was tight and work was thin on the ground for him for a while after the Exposition closed. While "Primitive Chant" had at least one copy cast in bronze by Winslow Brothers Foundry for Frank Lloyd Wright (a contemporary account held that Winslow Brothers only cast one) and two copies of his small "Vow of Vengeance" (later to be re-modeled as his famous "The Sun Vow"), most of his art was sold in plaster. I believe instead that the plaster original of this plaque was "stored" in the studio that he'd shared with his friend, painter Charles F. Browne, until he returned from his four-year sojourn in Italy in 1899. A photograph of the interior of the studio, taken while MacNeil was in Rome, clearly shows the plaque in the background with others of MacNeil's sculptures. The plaque would have been forwarded to New York upon his return from Rome as he did not settle again in Chicago.

 

While it is certain that one bronze was cast prior to the 1924 McSpadden interview, it is not yet known if any others had been cast at the same time. Cecelia MacNeil, Hermon's second wife, had several of her husband's more popular works cast posthumously by RBW as well. I have yet to start digging into the foundry records to see if I can discern when the two copies were cast, though it is likely to me that they were not cast at the same time. The other plaque looks "fresher," the patina seeming original and less aged from the auction listing photos. The placement of the foundry marks also represent different periods in RBW's history. On my plaque, the individual hairs of Black Pipe's eyebrows can be discerned. Not so on the other bronze plaque!

I have seen two plaster copies of this plaque as well, both painted, both found in Canada. One had been painted by the current owner's uncle (it had been painted to look like a bronze), the other was missing the upper portion of the background and the feather but looked to have had a more professional paint job. Drat! I missed the second one when it came up for sale.

I do believe that it could well have been since the passing of H. A. MacNeil that both this plaque and "Primitive Chant" have been in the same room together.

What we have here is a bronze plaque featuring the head of a handsome Lakota youth. The head is life sized, seeming to rest against a flat background, and the entire plaque is 25" from top to bottom. A lone feather stands in his hair at the back of his head. His wavy hair is shoulder length and parted on the right, the ends touching on a bear claw necklace around his throat. His expression seems dubious, perhaps even suspicious, as if the model wasn't quite sure about what was going on. At the bottom of the plaque is a legend that reads, "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe." To the right of the head is the artist's signature, "Mac Neil." Around the side, past the signature and along the back rim is the foundry mark "Roman Bronze Works N-Y-." The original ferric patina is worn in places, especially on the chin and left cheek. A natural patina has developed over a great deal of time that is remarkable in color, when viewed in good light. I have cleaned and waxed the bronze in keeping with my stewardship of this incredible work of fine art. I feel blessed that I get to have this beautiful plaque hanging on my wall.

Enjoy!

                  "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, front, lit

                  "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, front

                  "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, right

                 "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, left

                 "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, title

                 "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, signature

       "The Sioux Brave Blackpipe" by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, bronze, modeled 1893, foundry mark

 

 

Primitive Chant to the Great Spirit by Hermon Atkins MacNeil (February 27, 1866 – October 2, 1947)

 To kick off my return to blogging, I've decided to share yet another very special bronze that I own. I won it in an online auction, paying more for it than I did for my car. However I still paid well under the going rate for this bronze had it been listed for sale with an auction house. I am thrilled to own this magnificent piece of history!

Hermon Atkins MacNeil was a 27 year old sculptor and art professor at Cornell University when he was offered an opportunity by his friend and mentor Philip Martiny to work as his assistant on sculpting the many myriad decorations that were to adorn the structures and grounds of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The Exposition was set to open in 1892 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage, but construction fell behind and the opening of the White City was pushed out to July 1, 1893.

Here's where an amusing and amazing event occurred. Buffalo Bill Cody, of the famous Wild West Show, had recently returned from a tour of Europe that was a smash hit. Queen Victoria came out of her long period of mourning for a command performance. Two of his Indian warriors challenged each other to climb the then-new Eiffel Tower, making the newspapers worldwide. Coming off of this success and wanting to be part of the next world's largest party, Cody sent his managing partner Nate Salsbury to Chicago to discuss bringing the Wild West Show to the Exhibition. The partners who were financing the Exhibition insisted on taking fully one half of the gross receipts - they really didn't want Cody's "low entertainment" to be a part of their White City. Cody, as one can imagine, turned down that offer flat.

That's when he did something amazing, almost out of spite. He sent Nate Salsbury back to Chicago to rent the land next to the Exposition grounds, immediately outside the gate and close to the train depot. On those fifteen acres, Cody opened his Show a full month BEFORE the Exposition, on June 1. He brought with him 97 paid Sioux Indian performers and another 100 Sioux as his guests, for whom he paid their way as well. The workers who were building the White City would spend their breaks and lunches at the Wild West show.

Hermon MacNeil was no exception. He became, like his fellow European sculptors Prince Paolo Troubetzkoy, Carl Kauba, Franz Xaver Bergmann and others before him, enthralled with the athletic, colorful and frankly exotic Indians. MacNeil spent many an hour at the Wild West Show's Indian encampment, getting to know the performers and making many sketches in his notebooks.

One of the Lakota Sioux at the Wild West Show who spoke, read and wrote English was 15-year-old Joseph Black Pipe (March 7, 1878 (according to the 1900 Census, August 1876) - sometime between 1935 and 1940). He had been educated at the St. Francis Catholic Mission on the Rosebud Reservation, but aside from his presence at the Wild West Show, it is not known if he acted in the show's dramas. It is very likely, however, that he acted as an interpreter for the older Lakota chiefs and warriors. One thing is certain, he made the acquaintance of Hermon Atkins MacNeil.

After the Exhibition closed on October 31, 1893, the Wild West Show closed one day later, on November 1. Not long after, MacNeil was walking down a street on a cold, wet Chicago winter day when he spotted young Black Pipe. Joseph had stayed behind after the show closed but was cold and hungry, being without work. MacNeil offered him room and board in his studio in exchange for Black Pipe becoming his studio assistant and model. He gratefully accepted, staying with MacNeil for the next year and a half.

As soon as their first meal was eaten, MacNeil sat his athletic young warrior down and sculpted his face as a three-dimensional plaque (I have been repeatedly outbid in several auctions for one of these rare plaques but have finally brought one home - see the next post). In a spate of inspiration, MacNeil proceeded to use Black Pipe as his model for just about everything that he sculpted for the next couple years. In the summer of 1895, Black Pipe returned to South Dakota. Hermon MacNeil married in December of 1895 and traveled to Rome where he studied for the next four years as the winner of the Prix de Rome Rinehart scholarship, apparently losing contact with his former model and assistant but continuing to both sculpt new works using Black Pipe as his model as well as refine the earlier ones. Many of MacNeil's in-studio photographs of the young Lakota in various poses, removed from his College Point studio after his passing, still exist in the Archive of American Art as administered by the Smithsonian.

Primitive Chant to the Great Spirit was one of these Chicago sculptures. First modeled in plaster in 1894 and titled Primitive Indian Music, one of the first bronzes was cast by Winslow Brothers Foundry in Chicago for placement in foundry owner William Winslow's new house, the first openly designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in his new Prairie Style. It was placed immediately inside the front door, on a pillar in front of the imposing inglenook, and the photograph taken at the time of the opening of the house with the bronze prominently displayed still exists. By 1909 however, this casting was being offered for sale at Chicago's McClurg & Co. bookstore, which also sold Fine Art. In a letter to MacNeil in December of 1909, Bryan Lathrop, who had been one of the financiers behind both the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition as well as Chicago's Marquette building and was an early acquaintance of the artist, not to mention being a strident art collector himself, mentioned that he had left money down on what he had been told was the only copy that existed and that the plaster model and molds had been destroyed. Lathrop inquired if this was true (I'm sure this was true for "Primitive Indian Music," but clearly not for the finished model "Primitive Chant"). I'm not sure if he completed the purchase and it passed out of his hands after his sudden death in 1916 or if he just got his deposit back, but he mentioned in the same letter that he had MacNeil's "Navaho Orator" set aside as well. As both sculptures (if not for sure these specifically) were known to have been in the collection of Frank Lloyd Wright, who abandoned his family and ran off with his mistress in 1909, the timing fits.

How an Illinois artist named Eda Lord came to own it is not known, though given her status in society, she probably saw "Primitive Indian Music" at Winslow House during one of the many high society parties held there in the time around when the house was completed. "Primitive Indian Music" was offered for sale at auction in 2018, sold by the great-grandson of Eda Lord who had it by descent.

 Primitive Chant, as it was soon re-titled, went on to become one of MacNeil's first popular sculptures. Around a dozen to two dozen were cast during MacNeil's lifetime, the first by Winslow Brothers then later by Roman Bronze Works in New York. I'm still working on the final count.

This casting, my copy, was made by Roman Bronze Works most likely in 1910 or 1911. It has an unusual 1909 copyright date on it, while most cast by RBW either show no date or are copyright 1901. Records from RBW indicate that two were cast in 1910 and one in 1911. It is my firm belief that MacNeil modeled the sculpture twice, first in Chicago and again in Rome. There are some small but pretty significant differences in the bronzes. Mine more closely resembles the earlier model but is more finely finished than "Primitive Indian Music." I'm still trying to put all of the bronzes into a timeline. It's difficult.

One other thing to keep in mind is that art bronzes were generally made to order back then and were bespoke, meaning if a client wanted a change made, a bit of extra cash on top usually got the job done. Foundry workers also were not above re-creating damaged details or adding new ones when preparing the waxes for molding. Now, Roman Bronze Works was also not above creating "spurious" or off-the-books castings (meaning they used the plaster model and/or molds but didn't tell or pay the artists) for their clients and contemporary reports mention that Winslow Brothers Co. cast only one in bronze, so the true number of lifetime castings may never be known. 

 None of the lifetime castings were either dated by the foundries nor were they numbered sequentially, though the castings from RBW that were numbered in a closed edition were, I believe, cast posthumously for MacNeil's second wife and son. Those bronzes are also marked "Cire Perdue Cast" so are easy to identify. I do not have a provenance for mine, the person who sold me this bronze had bought it fifteen years earlier from an online dealer, so I do not know who was the original purchaser or when it was purchased. The auction house that I suspect may have sold it in 1988 lost all of their records in a disastrous fire in 1990. Research is ongoing, but I may have hit a proverbial firewall. Most of the other lifetime (of H. A. MacNeil that is) castings of Primitive Chant are owned by museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa (they have two!) and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. No matter the provenance, I'm in rarified company!

Here we have a bronze statue of an athletic sixteen (or seventeen, his birth records are approximate) year old Lakota youth. The sculpture stands approximately 24.5" tall and has been deemed period authentic by a couple experts. He is wearing a loincloth with just a fringe of a front flap and no rear flap (some have a rear flap, but like the 1894 original, mine doesn't), low moccasins and two upright feathers in his hair (many of the bronzes have one feather curled over, mine is closer to the 1894 original). He is dancing sinuously with his right foot raised to his own music which he makes by blowing into the crook of his right elbow. The sculpting is fantastic, a beautiful example from a master sculptor of the Beaux Arts era. The bronze is in magnificent condition, especially considering its age. There are no dents or bent parts, only a couple light scratches in the patina commensurate with age. These will "heal" over time to an extent as the bronze further ages. I have cleaned and waxed him, removing the interstitial dirt and sealing the surface from the elements.

I present to you Hermon Atkins MacNeil's 1894 masterpiece, Primitive Chant to the Great Spirit. New pictures will follow after I put together a new backdrop, but for now, Black Pipe dances in my back yard, dappled in sunlight. Enjoy! I know I do.

                        Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, front

                        Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, 1/4 front

                        Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, right

                        Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, rear

                        Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, left

                    Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, title

                    Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, signature

                    Primitive Chant by H. A. MacNeil, ca. 1910, bronze, foundry chop