Indian Head Plaque by Alois Sutter

Here yet again is a lovely piece that I watched cycle through relisting after relisting on the big online auction site. I finally found the admittedly modest amount of buy-it-now money to snatch it out from under the dozen or so others who had also been watching it. I'm very glad it found its long term home on my wall!

This piece is a fine cast bronze (I believe it's bronze anyway) plaque of a handsome young Indian man's face. No patina has ever been applied, what is there has been brought about by time. What makes this a bit more unique is that the plaque is oval and the face is raised in high relief, so that it stands out to about where his ears would be hidden behind his hair. In his long hair he wears two feathers and some sort of ribbon or roach holding them upright on the back of his head, the hair at his temples being caught up in ponytails that are wrapped toward the ends. A pair of large hoop earrings, a highly decorated shirt and a peace medal around his neck complete his outfit. Around the front edge is a border with raised edges and "Indian symbols" inside. Cast on the back is, "Casted by Al. Sutter, N28, 2851 Wallace St. Chicago ILL." There is a lug at the top with a ring through it for ease of hanging.

A search of the 1928/9 Chicago City Directory shows an Alois Sutter living at 2851 Wallace Street. Bingo! But that's about all of the info that I have been able to find on him. That address is a 2 unit home (it was back then as well) and looks to be a rental, so I have no idea how long he lived there or what he did for a living. If anyone out there has any info on either this lovely plaque or Alois Sutter, please let me know!

 Note: The blue spots on the left side of the forehead in the first picture are from a TV that was on in the background, and the small white spots are flecks of house paint that come off easily with a fingernail but are difficult to see with the naked eye. I'll take new pictures after I remove them!

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, front

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, left

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, right

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, top

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, bottom

Indian Head Plaque, bronze, Alois Sutter (cast), 1928, back

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug Inkwell by Peter Tereszczuk (1875-1963)

While the main thrust of my bronze collecting blog has been Native American Indian in theme, I do also collect bronzes from other genres that I also find both interesting and pleasing. Especially if I get a good deal on them! This bronze I find to be aesthetically appealing, a beautiful Art Nouveau antique that I was extremely fortunate to find. I purchased it in an online auction which had a sparse description but decent pictures and a very low starting bid. The inkwell was a bit dirty but not excessively so. What is left of the original applied (hot) polychrome patina could be seen, superseded on the exposed surfaces by the naturally occurring patina that only age can bring. I could see that with a proper cleaning and waxing that it would really look amazing.

I placed my bid and watched the auction closely. Happily and rather surprisingly, no one bid against me! A handful of days later, I was carefully removing the lightly encrusted dust of many years and applying fresh wax. It really looks fantastic now! The deterioration of the coloration that the artist either applied or specified has been slowed if not halted, and the dirt that promotes corrosion has been removed and blocked from the surface of the bronze in the future. With routine care, this inkwell should easily last centuries if not millennia.

With a little research, I quickly found that I had purchased not just an old inkwell but a real treasure. Peter Paul Tereszczuk (his signature here is the earlier version that he used) was born in 1875 in Wybudow, a village now in the Ukraine but then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He moved to Vienna, Austria to study woodcarving at the school of Arts and Crafts in Vienna under Hermann Klotz. By 1895 he was an established and well known sculptor in Vienna. He mostly created small sculptures, often as decoration on tabletop objects ranging from lamps to desk sets (inkwells, blotters, card trays and the like) to vases and jardieneres, an incredible range of objects and sculptures over a roughly thirty year period. Tereszczuk created many of the fanciful and beautiful lamp bases that are topped with the incredibly beautiful glass shades of Loetz, Émile Gallé, Daum Nancy and many other top level French and Bohemian glass artisans of the day. He was one of the first (if not THE first) Art Nouveau sculptors to add carved ivory to his bronzes, replacing faces, torsos and other areas of bare skin in a revival of the style called "chryselephantine" that dates back to ancient times. Though these now-antique works can be tricky to import (if not own) due to laws designed to protect our endangered animal populations, they are highly collectible. His prolific works helped define Viennese Art Nouveau at the time and for the ages, but by 1925 Art Nouveau was being replaced by Art Deco. He briefly worked in this new style but rather quickly disappeared from the art scene. Peter Tereszczuk passed away in Vienna in 1963.

Depicted here is a couple sharing a drink from a jug. The young man is seated, he is shirtless but is wearing a pair of simple loose pants and the plain boots of a farmer. In his right hand is a large scythe, the blade resting on the ground below his dangling feet. On his head he is wearing a simple felt hat commonly known in antiquity as a pileus, which was the symbol in Roman times of a freed slave and is still a symbol of freedom today. His left hand is raised, holding up a jug which is also supported by a young woman who is laying across his lap. She is wearing a kerchief around her head, a simple blouse with the sleeves rolled up, a sash wrapped around her waist and a peasant style dress that fans out across her seat. She is also wearing low boots or shoes which peek out from under the hem of her dress. The pose of the pair is very naturalistic and highly detailed, the expressions on their faces exquisitely rendered. The young man's muscles are so well sculpted that even his veins can clearly be seen. To the right of the couple is the lid to the ink pot, also so well rendered that it takes a fairly close look to make out the edges of the opening. Inside is a soldered-in tapered insert which shows little sign of having held ink in the past, though  it may have had a glass insert that has gone missing. The base is designed as a tray, to lay pens on between uses. It too shows no ink stains that I could see. The bronze was originally carefully patinated, the skin, clothes and base carefully colored using a hot chemical process, not cold painted like the more mass produced Vienna bronzes most of us are familiar with. The colors have darkened over time. This piece, though utilitarian in nature, was created as fine art. Overall, this is an elegant piece of desk furniture, elevating the normal and everyday to high art.

This inkwell is signed P. Tereszczuk on the back and has a foundry mark, a K inside a horseshoe, for K. Korff (a sculptor whom I believe had his own foundry in Vienna). It's in perfect, undamaged and lightly used condition and has a lovely patina commensurate with age. It's most likely an earlier work as it is made of solid bronze. Once the artist began working with ivory, most of what he created had at least one ivory element in it.

I have only found a couple pictures of another inkwell like mine, though that one was rather unfortunately damaged, having a hole in the base behind a dangling foot. I have yet to find another. It's rare indeed!

I'm very happy that I have this lovely sculptural inkwell in my collection. It's a beautiful example of the work of an incredibly talented artist.

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, front, closed

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, front, open

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, left

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, right

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, back

Young Farmer and Girl With Jug, Vienna bronze inkwell, Peter Tereszczuk, signature

Centaur Brought Down By Broken Heart by James Croak (contemporary)

As I have mentioned in an earlier post ("An Interrupted Wooing" by J. Edgar Stouffer), I have a lifelong fondness for high fantasy art. This has extended to my bronze collection. Sculptures in bronze within the fantasy milieu are, however, quite rare, a veritable snipe hunt for a collector. The mere amount of work and expense involved in creating a bronze sculpture typically precludes this genre as fantasy art is not deemed "worthy" of said expense and work by the mainstream art community. That is, in large part, why sculptures such as my "An Interrupted Wooing" by J. Edgar Stouffer and this one by James Croak are highly coveted by myself and my fellow collectors who enjoy such works.

A few years back, I had seen this piece come up for auction. The description was very spartan (as usual with most of the pieces I buy), the price a bit on the high side of my normal range and not within the mainstream theme of my collection. I placed it in my "watch list" and kept an eye on it. Eventually, the seller changed the auction to a buy-it-now format. Still it had only one watcher (myself) while it spent a while being periodically renewed. The seller added the "make an offer" option, but sadly it was while I was in the early throes of my current spate of ill health and while I was at my most impoverished. A few weeks later, however, I found myself with a few extra bucks in hand and facing several months flat on my back in bed, awaiting yet another surgery. I made an offer that was pretty low, figuring I'd be turned down, but the seller accepted within minutes! When it arrived at my home, I was quite pleasantly surprised at just how large and rather heavy it is as well as how detailed the work is. I promptly dusted it and set it on one of my display tables along with several of my other bronzes that are definitely NOT of an Indian ( I have several Grand Tour bronzes as well - more on those later).

Until recently, I had been content to own this plaque in ignorance of the maker, believing that searching for someone named "Croak" was a fool's errand, especially as it related to a sculpture involving death. The other day I woke up to the fact that I hadn't even tried to look. Once I searched "Croak" and "sculptor," however, I began to feel foolish indeed! Immediately the name James Croak popped up, links to his works making up most of the first page. Now, I'm not that familiar with contemporary sculpture by and large, knowing only a few names and works, mainly ones that came up in my research on sculpting classes (yes, I have my own ambitions beyond merely collecting). I now feel like the world has been moving past me while I was looking the other way. James Croak has been a "wunderkind" of the contemporary art world for a few decades now. In 1985, unable to afford to cast one of his works in bronze, he began casting using a mixture of dirt and glue as his medium, and in that act creating a new and bold statement. His "Dirt People" took the art world by storm. His accolades and honors are many and easily found with the most basic of searches, or by simply clicking the link to the right.

Upon finding his website, I snapped these pictures and sent them to him to inquire if he was the artist who created it, the whole time more than half certain that he wasn't. The next morning he sent a brief response simply stating, "Yes, I made that." I was floored. I am still.

In a subsequent email, Mr. Croak elaborated a bit, writing that this was one of two that he had made of this piece and was also quite rare as he has not made many bronzes at all. He also mentioned that, for insurance purposes, a small piece of his had recently sold at auction in NY for a sum in the five figures. Again, I was floored. I am still.

Depicted here on a roughly oval shaped base is a fully realized (a fully modeled figure, not a relief) nude male centaur who has been brought down by a lioness (likewise fully rendered), which has him by the throat. Hoof prints lead up to his fallen body and behind him is a discarded pennant upon which is written, "TRUTH JUSTICE MERCY." On the back it is signed "CROAK" with the date "1985." Also on the back are two threaded blind holes in lugs that sit flush with the rim, one at each side, but no way to hang it short of first mounting it on a base of some sort. When propped up on its rim, the plaque is too top heavy to stand and tips either forward or backward. It is a very solid piece!

I do not believe it was displayed for long after its creation, until my purchasing it. The piece is completely damage free, it only had a light coating of old dust that came off easily and left no bad spots. The patina is a little thin on the centaur's rear haunch, the highest spot on the whole piece, but that's not unusual given the age of this piece. I feel that I'm fortunate to have been able to purchase this plaque. It's certainly (almost) unique!

"Centaur Brought Down By Broken Heart," by James Croak, bronze, 1985, one of two made, front

"Centaur Brought Down By Broken Heart," by James Croak, bronze, 1985, one of two made, signature on back

J. H. Bond Plaque - The Mystery Deepens!

I was surfing one of my usual haunts not long ago when I spotted a nice looking bronze plaque listed with a very reasonable starting bid. I threw my hat into the ring and happily in due course won it. The listing stated that it was numbered but not signed, which I found to be very odd. I've seen many bronzes that were signed but not numbered, but never one the other way around! I figured the seller had just not found the signature, so I wasn't that concerned. At the same time, perhaps the second or third time I was staring at the pictures and looking for the elusive scrawl, it dawned on me that something in the lines of the art reminded me lot of my J. H. Bond plaque. Even though the two plaques wildly differ in subject matter (outside both being Indian themed), once the idea set in it felt like a certainty. I couldn't explain why I felt the way I did other than intuition however.

Well, today it arrived, and I grabbed my magnifying glass and began looking it over. The plaque is round, roughly seven inches in diameter and made of very heavy solid bronze (though the weight of it, the way it smells and the way it "rings" has me thinking it's bronzed cast iron - more on that later) with a piece of hard wire soldered onto the back as a hanger. I checked the front very carefully - nothing. I flipped it over to the back, where the number and edition are scratched into it. Aside from the numbers (which had obviously been taped over to protect them), the entire back was covered in old glue that had taken on a flower pattern - I figure it had been glued up to a wall over flower print wallpaper, I'll be cleaning that off before too long - so I checked even more carefully. Again, there was nothing that could even be mistaken for a signature. After a moment of quiet perplexity, I took a look at the edge. That's when I got a nice, affirming surprise.

BINGO!!

Right in front of me was the signature that I more than half expected to find but couldn't tell you why I did, the autograph of J. H. Bond, Mystery Artist. So now I own not one, not two, but THREE bronzes by this artist, all purchased separately and from different parts of the country, and I STILL know nothing about them. This is getting frustrating!!

Depicted here on a round bronze plaque in fairly low relief is the profile of an elder Native Indian man who is wearing the upper part of a mountain lion (cougar or igmu) skull as a headdress and a feather hanging from each temple. His long hair and left feather are being blown forward by an unseen wind as he squints his intense gaze at something in front of him. On the rim, at the bottom, it is signed J^ H. Bond followed by the copyright symbol, but no date. On the back, below and to the right of the soldered or brazed on hanger wire, it is numbered 18/2500.

I now have THREE bronzes by this (obviously) reasonably prolific sculptor and still have ZERO info about ANY of them, artist or works. It's like yet ANOTHER bronze has dropped into my growing collection from outer space. If anyone out there knows something about this mystery, please, PLEASE let me know!

Bronze Indian head plaque, signed J. H. Bond, 18/2500, undated, front

Bronze Indian head plaque, signed J. H. Bond, 18/2500, undated, back numbered

Bronze Indian head plaque, signed J. H. Bond, 18/2500, undated, signature

Panel for United States National Bank, Portland Oregon - Plaster Original by Avard Fairbanks (March 2, 1897 – January 1, 1987) - UPDATED

Note: In light of new and definitive information,  I've finally and correctly identified this work! I'm updating this post, choosing to revise rather than replace it. Most of the post wouldn't change, after all.

Next up isn't a bronze, but is the actual original plaster art used to make a panel in a bronze door! If you're at all familiar with bronze casting, then you know that the artist does not create the original art in bronze but in another medium, which is then molded up in a long and tedious process before being duplicated in bronze. In this way, no bronze is an actual "original," instead they're copies of the original work.

It's MUCH rarer to get one's hands on an original, one of a kind sculpture that was used as the basis of a bronze, than of the bronze copy itself. This is one of only a few pieces that I own (so far) that are of this caliber.

Now, what we have here is a square plaster plaque, 13.5" on each side. It is tinted sepia from having been coated in alginate during the molding process. There are a few small chips in the border, nothing too big or bad, but is otherwise in wonderful condition. A handwritten tag attached to the back states that it was created by artist Paul Walters (this is wrong, the artist was Avard Fairbanks) as a panel in a set of bronze doors at the "Oregon State University Art School" (also wrong, it's the upper panel in the right side door in the western façade at the United States National Bank building in Portland, Oregon). The seller had listed that it was created in 1926 (that's actually correct, the bronze doors were cast between 1926-1927). A random search of "bronze doors" and "Portland Oregon" turned up a picture which put the mystery of this panel to rest!

Depicted here are three Native men, two standing to the right in profile and one seated to the left with his back to the viewers. They are perched on a highland facing the ocean and are watching a ship sailing on the ocean below. The Indian standing to the far right is wearing a headdress, a rather rough looking loincloth and moccasins and is holding what appears to be a spear or staff. The Indian standing in the middle is wearing a head band with two standing feathers, a basic loincloth and moccasins and is holding a feathered staff with which it appears he is signaling the ship. The man on the left is seated and is wearing nothing but a single feather in his hair and maybe moccasins. His right hand is gripping a bow which is on the ground.

The overall message appears to be an interpretation of "The Coming of the White Man," or perhaps "First Contact." The panel to the immediate left, in the other door, depicts the Lewis and Clark Expedition, which is assumed to be the first contact between the descendants of European settlers and the First Peoples of the area. It seems a bit naïve, both in the depiction of somewhat stereotypical Indians of the period (at least to me) as well as the idea that such intrusion was welcomed by the Indigenous people at the time. But as this was created at the tail end of the age of Manifest Destiny, it is perhaps understandable. I'm certainly not an expert on the dress and customs of the tribes of the Northwest at the time of the first European ship's arrival at an Oregon shore, so perhaps it is indeed correct. As I understand it, the bronze doors "depict pivotal events in the historical development of the Columbia Basin." That makes sense.

Avard Tennyson Fairbanks was a prolific American sculptor. Three of his sculptures adorn the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Another adorns just about every Dodge, especially the trucks - he was the sculptor who created the Dodge Ram head. He was, for a while, a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon, which may be where some of the confusion arose. It is entirely possible that "Paul Walters" may have had a hand in the creation of the bronze, or perhaps he was on the faculty as well and was given this as a gift, but that specific knowledge has been lost to time. The bronze is signed with Fairbanks's mark but must have been signed in the wax as the plaster is unsigned in that spot or any other.

Without further ado, I present this lovely plaster plaque by Avard Fairbanks. Enjoy!

Panel from bronze door, Avard Fairbanks, bronze part of western façade door at US National Bank, Portland OR, plaster original ca. 1926-1927

Mystery Maine Sculpture - Winslow Artist?

This is turning out to be the time for me to post up some of my mystery bronzes, those that have no titles, are not signed or dated, have no provenance to provide details or any combination of the above. This one hits on about every one of those. The information I have is very sketchy and minimal at best, so once again the call goes out to anyone who might recognize this sculpture to PLEASE DROP ME A NOTE!! I'd dearly love to have some information on this piece. It may well be unique, but SOMEONE made it and SOMEONE has seen it before. I've looked and looked but haven't had the slightest luck. I am pretty certain it's not a smaller copy of a monument, but that's almost all I can surmise.

I was home recovering between back surgeries when this lovely work came up for sale for a very reasonable price (read: I only skipped a few decent lunches). As I was mainly bedridden and my antique Jeep wasn't sucking its usual monthly pile of cash out of my wallet, I had a few bucks more than usual to spend. So I pulled the trigger and bought it, even knowing it was something of an enigma. I liked it (and still do).

The seller was an eBay shop in Massachusetts who sold on consignment. The only info they had been given was that it was created in Maine and that either the sculptor's last name was Winslow or was located in Winslow, Maine. It's possible the consignor was from Winslow, Maine too, which could blow the whole set of "facts" out of the water. I don't know and neither did they. I thought, 'Eh, I like it and the price is right, so why not?' It looks like there was once a brass plaque on the front, but that is long gone. There is nothing on the bronze itself to identify it, not a word, name, date, chop mark, nothing.

Today I finally got around to waxing it (the sculpture was already clean and in beautiful condition) and decided to take pictures and post it up in the hopes that I'll get some feedback on it.

Of course, any search for a Winslow Maine artist (even if one searches for sculptors and/or sculptures), one is inundated with Winslow Homer pages and references. Wading through those is grueling! My eyes go crossed. ;)

Depicted here is a muscular adult Indian man, most likely from one of the Northeastern Woodland tribes (Mohawk, Penobscot, Wampanoag, etc.) judging by both his hairstyle and clothing. He is standing straight up at the end of a boulder, his arms crossed across his chest, an upraised tomahawk in each fist. His head is shaved save for a top knot or brush - it's not a head roach, the tie strap holding his hair up is visible on close examination - and has two feathers hanging down the back. He's wearing low and simple moccasins and a plain loincloth. He's clearly a powerful warrior in the prime of life and in peak health. He's not showing any scars and is (ahem!) anatomically correct, as I found out while waxing him. Oh yes he is. LOL. He's fairly well sculpted save for his ears, which are not exactly the best. Otherwise, the level of detail is quite nice given the small size of the piece.

So here I present you with another mystery bronze. From the base of the boulder to the top of his hair, he's 6.5" tall. The hardwood base is 3/4" tall. It's not a huge bronze, but it's very nicely done. Enjoy!!

Edit: I have come to understand that this may have been sculpted by Texas artist Gene Deveny. I'll update this post as I find more info.

Bronze Woodland Indian, possibly from Maine, ???, front

Bronze Woodland Indian, possibly from Maine, ???, right

Bronze Woodland Indian, possibly from Maine, ???, right

Bronze Woodland Indian, possibly from Maine, ???, back

Bronze Woodland Indian, possibly from Maine, ???, face close up

Two Bronzes by J. H. Bond - Another Pair of Mysteries!

This post is a bit unusual in that I own not one but TWO bronze sculptures by an artist that not only have I never heard of, but apparently zero information exists on the web about either these or any other pieces by this artist or the artist as well. It's like they fell out of the sky and into my collection. If anyone out there knows anything about the sculptor J. H. Bond or the artist's works, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!! I'm at a total loss.

So here's the story. I was surfing the most popular online auction site out there when I came across a bust of a Native American Indian man with a very low starting bid and (once again) a very minimalist description. In fact, the seller's list of "do's and dont's" and "I will's and I wont's" was far longer than the description of the piece itself! That one sentence description wound up buried in a slew of the seller's rules. I couldn't even read the artist's name in the pictures and the seller just had it listed as "Bond." I rolled the metaphorical dice and placed a not-so-high maximum bid and let it roll. Happily I won, and honestly for pretty close to the metal value of the bronze. Once it arrived home, I checked out the signature and began researching.

I hit a wall.

The only thing I could find was yet another piece by the same artist, for sale with a very low buy-it-now price. I figured that since I'm researching the one I own, I might as well own the second one too and feature the two of them in one post. The more, the merrier, eh? I actually wound up spending almost exactly the same amount for both pieces once shipping was added, and I mean it was down to a three dollar difference. Unfortunately neither seller could give me any information about either piece, so I began playing around with my research, getting more and more desperate to find ANYTHING - old auction records, past gallery listings, newspaper mentions, obituaries, ANYTHING. My search terms got pretty esoteric, let me tell you!

Again I hit a wall. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

The first sculpture is a bust of a proud warrior from the Plains - I believe it's Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce in his prime, but that's a shot in the dark guess - judging by his buffalo robe, bear claw necklace, hair style and the sun dance scars/wounds on his chest. The bronze is signed but not dated, titled or numbered, nor are there any foundry marks. It's very nicely sculpted and finished as well as being well cast (it's so heavy that I believe it's solid bronze or close to it), sitting on a nice cherry wood base. One would think that a piece this nice would have gained some notice SOMEWHERE.  AAARGH!!!!

The second piece is more of a plaque or paperweight, though it's of a size that it could also easily be made into a belt buckle. The scene depicted is a bit macabre. It is titled "Tree Burial" and depicts the wrapped and tied bier of a Plains Indian warrior placed high between two tree branches, his shield hanging above his head and what looks to be a vulture or large raptor perched with wings spread, standing on his legs. It is also signed "J. H. Bond" but is numbered 25/2500 on the the bottom, in a cutout area of the base felt. A tag taped to the bottom gives the title and artist's name, the date 1992 as well as mentions that the edition is closed. Aside from the original price, no other information is given however. Once again, AAARGH!!!

So here I present my two bronze sculptures by one J. H. Bond, mystery artist of the month. Please, PLEASE, I'd love to have more information on the artist and these two pieces!!

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, front

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, right

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, back

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, left

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, from above

Chief Joseph? Plains Native Man Bust, J. H. Bond, bronze, ???, signature

"Tree Burial", J. H. Bond, 1992, 25/2500, bronze, front

"Tree Burial", J. H. Bond, 1992, 25/2500, bronze, back

"Tree Burial", J. H. Bond, 1992, 25/2500, bronze, edition mark

"Tree Burial", J. H. Bond, 1992, 25/2500, bronze, signature

Tim Sullivan (contemporary) - "Vision Seeker"

About a year and a half ago now, I was laying in a hospital bed with more time and internet access than mobility. It was Christmas and I was feeling pretty down. While surfing various auctions online, I came across a poorly worded but very interesting looking statue with an incredibly low starting bid. The seller didn't post more than a line about how they didn't know anything about it and if you didn't like it then you didn't have to bid on it. At the same time, I had no idea the dimensions of the piece, the name of the artist, nothing. Plus it looked so dirty that it could have been made of raw and corroded pewter, for all the detail the pictures showed. It actually looked rather silvery... They cast the line and reeled me in! I bid accordingly and was the only one to do so. I won it for an amazingly low price.

Fortunately I was released from the hospital a couple days later to prepare for back surgery. One day about a week later a quite large package showed up on my doorstep. At first I wondered what the heck it was and then was quite shocked to find it contained the statue I had won, and that it was indeed made of solid bronze. The bronze is a whopping 10 inches tall and the solid wood base another 1-3/4 inches high, making it nearly a foot tall and quite heavy. But wow, it wasn't just dirty, it was fffiiiiilllthy. I don't believe it had been dusted in decades much less properly cleaned and waxed. The dust had solidified into a crust that didn't move with gentle fingernail action, and it had so many nooks, crevices and tiny but deep niches that it was going to be a challenge to get clean much less waxed. It was going to take a more serious approach than my other bronzes had. The artist's name and mark were clear on the back, "Sullivan" over a tomahawk, with a copyright symbol and dated '83 with the edition number of AP/25 (this is the Artist's Proof of the sculpture and another 25 were released in the regular edition). There was no plaque on the base or title on the work itself, so I began doing my due diligence to find out as much as I could. A little research led me to the artist, Tim Sullivan, and a quite pleasant call to that very nice man led to the the title of the piece - "Vision Seeker." Mr. Sullivan commented on it being one of his early full bronze sculptures and that it had sold out "pretty quickly" after it was originally offered in 1983. We had a pleasant chat for about half an hour that I feel would have lasted longer if my medications hadn't started to kick in and knock me out. :)

Prolific sculptor Tim Sullivan is probably best known for his impressive output of small to medium sized figurines for the Chilmark Company (among others). His works for Chilmark were primarily made of pewter but were often decorated with applied metals like silver, copper and bronze in a vermeil technique. They are in large part quite well realized and neatly sculpted, showing the artist's fine grasp of not only his subject matter but a clear understanding of design and anatomy. Many of the larger Chilmark pieces are worth a substantial amount of money today and are highly collectible, especially since the company folded in 2000.

What many of the collectors of his pewter figures don't realize is that Tim Sullivan was a sculptor of gallery bronzes as well. Over the course of his career he had garnered over fifty prizes for his sculptures and his works are held in collections all over the world. Sadly, several years ago he suffered a major heart attack which deprived his brain of oxygen for roughly ten minutes. This event led to his retirement, as he said he lost his inspiration to sculpt. "It just went pffft," he told me. Though he is no longer sculpting, we are all very fortunate that he is still with us and remains a kind and generous man who is quite willing to talk about his art. When I talked to him, he told me that he is still selling the last of several of his lovely sculptures that were in his inventory prior to his retirement. If you  like his work and want an original for yourself, click on the link to the right and check out his catalogue. There are still a few very lovely sculptures available which have not closed out their editions. But hurry! The early bird gets the worm (and hopefully gets to chat with Mr. Sullivan too).

Having had two spinal surgeries myself since acquiring this lovely piece, I was not only not allowed to lift it but was physically unable to. I didn't want to post it here until it was properly cleaned, waxed and looking top notch. Today I was finally feeling well enough to take a chance at lifting it to clean it, and WOW, I'm glad I got it scrubbed up and waxed!!! I unscrewed it from the base, cleaned it with a soft brush and mild soap to remove the crud. The dust (and probably ash - I believe it came from a smoker's household) came right off after a good mild soapy water soak and scrub with a soft used toothbrush, the old wax having protected the metal and patina. A fresh coat of Renaissance Wax and a good buffing later and it looks like a million bucks! Probably weighs about the same too. ;) I refused to take before and after pictures. The point of this blog is to feature the artwork, not the process of cleaning and maintaining it. Besides, it is such a wonderful creation that it should only be seen at its best.

Depicted here is a Native American Northern Plains Indian medicine man (possibly Sioux) making an appeal to a higher power. He's muscular but looks as if he's been fasting for a while - his belly is very flat and his cheeks a bit sunken, like he's missed a few good meals. He is seated on a pile of rocks draped with a buffalo hide and a buffalo skull sits below his right foot. He's wearing a simple outfit, a buffalo horn headdress with a feathered headband, a plain loincloth and moccasins. On his right forearm is a round shield covered with decorated hide and edged with leather ribbons. Hanging from his left hand by a strap looped over his thumb and around his wrist is a war club with a hatchet head at the end of the handle. He's seated with his legs loosely crossed, arms raised to the sky into which his upturned face stares. A breeze from his left gently blows his hair, feathers and ribbons to the right. Even in his stillness, the artist has captured a sense of motion. It's a very impressive piece!

So now I present to you "Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, front

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, left

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, back

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, right

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, close-up

"Vision Seeker" by Tim Sullivan, bronze, 1983, AP/25, signature

American Orchid Society Trophy Plaque and Medals - Blanche Ames Ames (February 18, 1878 – March 2, 1969)

Hello everyone! After a protracted illness, I'm finally able to begin posting the bronzes in my collection again. I have a LONG way to go before I'll have them all up here. I'm still unable to lift my larger bronzes (that's going to take a bit more time and healing), but I'm very happy to be back!!

I am going to kick this off again with my most recent acquisition, a beautiful gilded bronze trophy plaque from the American Orchid Society featuring the official seal which was designed by the famed Blanche Ames Ames in 1921. Depicted in the upper center medallion is a muscular Native Indian man wearing a loincloth and long feathers laid back in his hair. He's kneeling next to two orchids growing on a ledge, Phragmipedium caudatum and Encyclia tampensisone. Given the first orchid is found between Peru and Bolivia and the second in the environs of Tampa, Florida, it's difficult to pin him to a specific tribe (if that matters). It's a very gentle and contemplative pose, quite at odds with the typical depictions of a powerful Indian brave that one would see at that time but very in keeping with both the native origins of the orchids as well as the gentleness of the pursuit of orchid cultivation. There are small rubs in the gilding at the shoulder and forearm, typical light wear to the finish for its age. On the back is soldered a tab with a place to insert a ring or string to hang it.

I have no idea how old this plaque is, as I've read an auction description of one that was said to have been awarded in 1963 (the images were long since deleted). I've only seen pictures of two other examples of this image on an award, one on a gold medal that had been turned into a brooch pin and was dated 1928 in the engraving, the other a nearly identical  undated and not engraved plaque that I had lost in spirited bidding before winning this one. I believe the one I lost out on was either newer and painted rather than gilded or had been repainted in the past due to the lack of detail in the seal that this one has, when comparing the auction pictures and differences in patina. Modern AOS trophies that I've seen have had an odd outline version of the seal laser etched inside a tapered block of Lucite and set on a base, and a perhaps intermediate version of the trophy with a "coin" with the same odd cutout version of this seal encapsulated inside. While the image on my plaque may remain the official seal, when it appears on their modern awards it's not like it once was. Research is ongoing though...

From my research, when the AOS gives awards at shows, the winners receive a certificate and the right to purchase a trophy (or plaque or medal, in the past), which the winner would have to pay for themselves. I believe that any engraving was an additional charge, which would help explain why these awards have none.

So, in total, that's three plaques like this so far that I've managed to find any reference to. I'm not certain if this indicates an actual rarity of the award plaques themselves or just a scarcity of plaques that have come up for sale. I have seen the seal on award medals too, usually in silver or bronze without the backing plaque. I'll update this post if I pick up more.

Blanche Ames Ames (1876-1969), born Blanche Ames, was a woman who was famous in her own time. Not only was she a noted artist, she was famous as a suffragette and early proponent of providing specialized health care and birth control to women. She was married to famed Harvard botanist and professor Oakes Ames (no relation - when she took his name she became "Blanche Ames Ames"). Oakes was a world renowned expert in orchids and with his wife traveled around the world studying the lovely plants and flowers. His work (which included Blanche's scientific illustrations of the flowers and plants) became a seven volume series of books called Orchidicae: Illustrations and Studies of the Family Orchidicae. It is still considered one of the most important works on orchids published to date and was the earliest comprehensive study of orchids undertaken. If you think of these books as being to orchids what John James Audubon's The Birds of America is to birds, well, it would be an apt comparison. Blanche and Oakes Ames were two of the founders of the AOS too. For more on Blanche and Oakes Ames, all one has to do is a simple search and a wealth of information is available.

I'm VERY glad to have this in my collection and will keep an eye out for others too.

Edit: After purchasing this plaque last summer, I remained in contact with the seller (a dealer in medals and medallions). He mentioned that he might have a couple more medals. Sure enough, he did! Both are bronze, struck by Medallic Arts of NY and are not engraved or personalized. They're in great condition with patinas commensurate with their age. I believe one is a bit older than the other as the details on one are slightly crisper than the other. I'm VERY happy with them! Pictures are below.

Edit 2: I have also purchased a second plaque, virtually identical to the first but with a bit more coppery hue, which came with the optional base/stand that is nothing more than a small, rectangular block of wood with a slot on top. When I finally took it down to photograph it, I had not remembered that the back looked to have been silvered and it had written on it in ink, "FWCOS (for Florida West Coast Orchid Society) FEB 1965." I'll see what I can do to find out more. I also purchased an undated Lucite award with one of the bronze medals embedded in it. Pictures of both have been added.

 

Enjoy!

 

American Orchid Society trophy plaque, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze, front

 

American Orchid Society trophy plaque, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze, seal detail w/signature monogram

 

 

American Orchid Society trophy plaque, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze, back

 

American Orchid Society medals, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, bronze, dates unknown, front

American Orchid Society medals, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, bronze, dates unknown, left reversed

American Orchid Society medals, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, bronze, dates unknown, right reversed

American Orchid Society trophy plaque no.2, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, coppery gilded bronze, front

American Orchid Society trophy plaque no.2, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, coppery gilded bronze, seal detail w/signature monogram

American Orchid Society trophy plaque no.2, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, coppery gilded bronze, back

American Orchid Society trophy, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze medal and plaque set in Lucite, front

American Orchid Society trophy, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze medal and plaque set in Lucite, side view

American Orchid Society trophy, Blanche Ames Ames, seal created 1921, gilded bronze medal and plaque set in Lucite, back

 

Indian Encampment Painting by U.U. Lindquist - Another Mystery to Solve

I picked up this painting just over a year ago, and in all this time I have not been able to find anything about either it or the artist. It is signed "U U Lindquist," or perhaps "U U J Lindquist," though I'm not sure. This painting is not titled. I call it "Indian Encampment." I'd guess it was painted sometime in the 1970's-80's. It's a bit more abstract than what I am usually drawn to, but the price and timing were right so it came home with me.

Depicted here are a group of three Plains Indian warriors sitting on horses that are standing in the river. In the distance are snow capped mountains and evergreen trees, and on the bank of the river behind them is a small group of tipis and three riderless horses grazing. At first blush the scene appears rather idyllic, though why the guys parked their horses in the river is a bit unclear. If you look closer however you can see that one of the fellows is holding a rifle in his hand, ready to aim and shoot. Something is going on here, but I don't quite know what.

If anyone knows anything about either this painting or the artist who painted it, please let me know! So far my research has been in vain.

Indian Encampment by U. U. Lindquist

Indian Encampment by U. U. Lindquist, signature