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Lot Essay
Paul Wayland Bartlett created the first life-size plaster model for Bear Tamer in Paris between 1885 and 1887, where it received an honorable mention at the Salon of 1887. Following this success, Bartlett signed a ten-year contract with the Parisian foundry Siot-Decauville et Perzinka to cast bronze reductions in two sizes: approximately 27 inches and approximately 17 inches, such as the present example.
According to Donna J. Hassler, "Bartlett chose to model man controlling animals yet unaware of his brute power...The sculptor was further motivated by [Emmanuel] Frémiet's interest in evolutionary principles and the relationship between the human and animal life." (T. Tolles, ed., American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. II, New York, 2001, p. 455)
According to Donna J. Hassler, "Bartlett chose to model man controlling animals yet unaware of his brute power...The sculptor was further motivated by [Emmanuel] Frémiet's interest in evolutionary principles and the relationship between the human and animal life." (T. Tolles, ed., American Sculpture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. II, New York, 2001, p. 455)