Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962)
Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962)
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Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962)

Percheron Stallion: Rhum

Details
Herbert Haseltine (1877-1962)
Percheron Stallion: Rhum
signed with initials and dated 'H·H/1940' (along the marble base)
silver-gilt bronze
12 ½ in. (31.75 cm.) high on a 1 ¾ in. (4.4 cm.) red marble base
Modeled circa 1922-24; cast in 1940.
Provenance
Mrs. Marshall Field III, Chicago, Illinois.
Estate of the above.
Christie's, New York, 22 September 1994, lot 82, sold by the above.
James Graham & Sons, Inc., acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above, by 2002.
Literature
Field Museum of Natural History, Sculptures by Herbert Haseltine of Champion Domestic Animals of Great Britain, exhibition catalogue, Chicago, Illinois, 1934, no. 4, another example illustrated.
American Sculptor Series, Herbert Haseltine, vol. 7, New York, 1948, p. 40, another example illustrated.
A.T. Gardner, American Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965, p. 134, another example referenced.
T. Armstrong, et al., 200 Years of American Sculpture, New York, 1976, pp. 140, 340, no. 93, pl. 39, another example illustrated.
J. Conner, J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, p. 48, another example illustrated.
M. Cormack, Champion Animals: Sculptures by Herbert Haseltine, Richmond, Virginia, 1996, pp. 4, pp. 32-35, another example illustrated.
T. Tolles ed., American Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 2, New York, 2001, pp. 610-11, another example illustrated.

Brought to you by

William Haydock
William Haydock

Lot Essay

Herbert Haseltine conceived Percheron as part of a series of British champion animals, most of which the artist modeled between 1922 and 1924. During this time, the artist travelled around Great Britain modeling the animals from life and later refined the sculptures in his Paris studio. The present work was modeled after the horse Rhum who received champion honors at the Royal Agricultural Society of England between 1921-23 and the Norwich Stallion show in 1922 and 1933. Haseltine's study of ancient art--Egyptian, Greek, Assyrian and Chinese--greatly influenced the figures in this series. Not only were the forms simplified and slightly stylized, but the artist experimented with different types of patinas, as in the present combination of silver and yellow gilding.

Joel Rosenkranz and Janice Conner write, "The original British Champion Animals series was carved and cast one-third life size; then one-quarter life-size reductions were cast. The edition of the larger marble and stone works was limited to three replicas, the bronze to six casts. The smaller, one-quarter version was limited to twelve casts. There was also done in a one-eighth life-size version, the figure averaging 5 to 6 inches high; and at least six sets of this twenty-animal series were cast. Most of Haseltine's finished works are signed and dated on either the self-base or the attached marble base. Without exception the date indicates when the piece was cast or carved, not the year it was originally modeled." (Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works, 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, p. 48)

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