The Empty Saddle

Details

HENRY MERWIN SHRADY (1871-1922)
The Empty Saddle
inscribed 'HMSHRADY' and 'COPYRIGHTED 1900/THEODORE B STARR' and 'R.B.W.' (along the base)
bronze with reddish brown patina
10 1⁄2 in. (26.7 cm.) high
Modeled in 1900.

Provenance

Thomas Nygard Gallery, Bozeman, Montana, 2005.
Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Literature

The International Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art, vol. 12, 1901, pp. xiv, xv, another example illustrated.
C.H. Garrett, "Letters & Art: A Self-Taught American Sculptor," Public Opinion, New York, 1903, p. 17.
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, vol. XIII, New York, 1906, p. 393.
P.J. Broder, Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1974, pp. 241, 244, pl. 262, another example illustrated.
R. Stewart, Charles M. Russell, Sculptor, Fort Worth, Texas, 1994, p. 56.
T. Tolles, American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. II, New York, 2001, p. 544, another example referenced.
L.D. Rosenfeld, A Century of American Sculpture: The Roman Bronze Works Foundry, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2002, p. 127, another example referenced.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Tylee Abbott Vice President, Head of American Art

tabbott@christies.com +1 212 707 5925

Lot Essay

At the encouragement of jeweler and silversmith Theodore Starr, Henry Merwin Shrady produced several small bronzes, including The Empty Saddle, for sale at Starr's prime Fifth Avenue store in New York. This exposure proved instrumental to Shrady's success, leading to sales, exhibition invitations and more. Patricia Janis Broder writes, "A representative of a committee sponsoring a competition for an equestrian statue of Washington at Valley Forge saw The Empty Saddle in a Fifth Avenue store window. He invited Shrady to enter the competition. Shrady, submitting only two additional plaster models, won the contest." (Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1974, p. 241) As a result, Shrady's monumental statue of Washington was installed on the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza in Brooklyn, New York, where it still stands today.

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