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| Image | Sale date | Auction house | Location | Sale name | Lot No. | Estimate | Price Sold | Condition | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
May 7, 2016 | Heritage Auctions | Dallas | American Art | 68014 | $****** - ****** | Mountain Mother |
sculpture
19.1 cm (7.5 in)
bronze with brown patina
Inscribed on base with artist symbol: CM Russell / 19
Collection of Homer Britzman
Richard Britzman, by descent from the above.
R. Stewart, Charles M. Russell: Sculptor, New York, 1994, pp. 291-94, another example illustrated.Master artist of the Old West, Charles Marion Russell brought to life jaw-dropping scenes of cowboys, Indians, and frontier life not only in paintings, but in sculpture. As a boy in Missouri, he made clay figures of animals, a practice that evolved into his shaping detailed and expressive sculptures in wax, plaster, and bronze. His figural subjects ranged from dramatic Indian buffalo hunts and bronco riders, to distinguished portraits of Navajo and Blackfeet leaders, to caricatures of saloon cowboys. Russell also produced in wildlife sculpture and memorialized in bronze many of the West's endangered species, including bison, mountain sheep, and grizzly bears.An especially popular and endearing Russell sculpture, Mountain Mother exhibits his fondness for bears in this grouping of a mother bear gazing protectively over her shoulder at her two romping cubs. Originally produced by Roman Bronze Works in 1919, Mountain Mother was one of a few models that Russell designed with the intent to be cast in bronze. In 1941, collector C.R. Smith purchased one bronze and three plaster models of Mountain Mother from Russell's wife, Nancy Russell. Smith then sold them to Homer Britzman. In 1942, Britzman arranged to have the Nelli Art Bronze Works cast as many as seven Mountain Mother bronzes (there were approximately nine lifetime casts). Three bronze casts remained in Britzman's estate in 1954: an "old casting" (possibly California Art Bronze Foundry, made during Nancy Russell's lifetime) and two "new castings" (Nelli Art Bronze Works copies). Although the present work does not retain a foundry mark, It is thought that this bronze may be one of the "new castings" that was cast for Britzman's personal collection.We are grateful to Rick Stewart for his assistance in cataloging this work.
