The Scalp (The Triumph)

Details

FREDERIC REMINGTON (1861-1909)
The Scalp (The Triumph)
inscribed 'Frederic Remington.' and 'THE HENRY-BONNARD. BRONZE. Co./FOUNDERS. N.Y. 1898.' (on the base)—inscribed 'Copyrighted by/Frederic Remington. 1898.' (along the base)—inscribed '4' (under the base)
bronze with dark brown patina
26 in. (66 cm.) high
Modeled in 1898; cast by 1900.

Provenance

Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York, 1962.
Russell B. Aitken, Newport, Rhode Island.
Estate of the above.
Christie's, New York, 22 May 2003, lot 89, sold by the above.
Acquired by the late owner from the above.

Literature

The Kennedy Quarterly, October 1962, vol. 3, no. 129, illustrated.
P.H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture in the Amon Carter Museum and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation Collections, New York, 1973, pp. 190-91, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington, exhibition catalogue, Washington, D.C., 1981, pp. 71, 113, another example illustrated.
M.E. Shapiro, P.H. Hassrick, Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York, 1988, pp. 184-85, pls. 52-53, another example illustrated.
M.D. Greenbaum, Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture, Ogdensburg, New York, 1996, pp. 76-83, 200, other examples illustrated.
B.W. Dippie, The Frederic Remington Art Museum Collection, Ogdensburg, New York, 2001, pp. 151-52.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Tylee Abbott Senior Vice President, Head of American Art

tabbott@christies.com +1 212 707 5925

Lot Essay

Also known as The Triumph, Remington's fourth bronze, The Scalp, is the artist's first sculptural depiction of a Native American subject. In the present work, Remington has rendered a Sioux warrior in a dignified and victorious pose, heroically placed atop a horse that is in mid-stride, coming to an energetic halt. The present work is number 4 of only eleven examples of The Scalp cast by The Henry-Bonnard Company before he chose to switch to Roman Bronze Works in 1900.

Commenting on The Scalp specifically, R.W. Gilder, editor of The Century wrote to Remington in 1906 that he "went the other day to see those ripping bronzes of yours. They are all thoroughly alive and thoroughly original. There was one that impressed me especially, as it had more beauty than some of the others, though they all have the beauty of life. I mean the solitary Indian with his arm up, apparently shouting defiance...You seem to sum up the wildman's attitude in that one gesture; and the horse in that is especially fine." (as quoted in B.W. Dippie, The Frederic Remington Art Museum Collection, Ogdensburg, New York, 2001, pp. 151-52)

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