Page 150 - 2015 Russell Catalogue

205CHARLES M. RUSSELL (1864–1926)Medicine Whip, c. 1912–16bronze9 5⁄8 x 10 7⁄8 x 4 1⁄4 inchesSigned “CMR” with bison skull trademark on rounded edge of baseA fine and very rare example of Charles M. Russell’s early work in bronze, this sculpture now known as of Medicine Whipis one of only four known lifetime casts produced between 1912 and 1916 by the August Griffoul & Brothers foundry in Newark, New Jersey. Russell originally modeled the bronze in 1911, copyrighting it under the title Mounted Indian that same year. Harry W. Child, founder and longtime president of the Yellowstone Park Company, acquired this sculpture directly from Charles and Nancy Russell. Child’s company was singularly responsible for the developing Yellowstone National Parkas a tourist destination between 1891 and 1966 and also put together the famous Flying D Ranch. Other examples of the Griffoul casting are found in the collections of the Montana Historical Society in Helena and the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.A recurring character in paintings and sculpture, Russell dreamed up Medicine Whip to personify an ideal in keeping with the traditions of Plains Indian pictographic art. According to art historian Brian W. Dippie, “Russell invented a Blood warrior, Medicine Whip, who in pitched battle with the Sioux and despite fearsome odds reached out with his quirt and struck the Sioux medicine man across the face, an act so audacious it rallied his tribesmen to victory.” Medicine Whip appeared first ina letter explaining Russell’s 1902 oil painting Counting Coup or Medicine Whip. The artist claimed to have heard the story directly from Medicine Whip’s own lips during his summer in Alberta in 1888 and subsequently wrote it up for a magazinein 1908. The story remained unpublished until Nancy Russell included “The War Scars of Medicine Whip” in a collection of stories by Charles M. Russell that she distributed under the title Trails Plowed Under (1927). To take advantage of the story in print, Nancy renamed this sculpture Medicine Whip when she renewed her late husband’s copyright in 1928.In a letter dated November 4, 2014 (included with this lot), art historian Rick Stewart assessed this casting. “It is my opinion that this bronze is an authentic Griffoul foundry cast of Russell’s tenth subject in bronze, now known as Medicine Whip.The style in terms of modeling and degree of detail is quite similar to other casts that I have examined. The treatment ofthe horse, the anatomy of the Indian, and the warrior’s accoutrements all match the other casts quite closely; in fact, the general handling of detail in the early Griffoul casts are better than the later casts that Nancy Russell commissioned from the California Art Bronze Foundry in Los Angeles. The overall patina, for the most part, is original and displays a dark reddish- brown color. There are several areas of light wear to the patina on the horse’s flanks, lower legs and tail, which appear to be natural and quite normal for a bronze of this age. The base has a slightly darker color than the horse and rider, indicating that the figures were cast separately and then brazed or welded onto the base.”$250,000–350,000 PROVENANCE• Charles M. Russell• Harry W. Child• Private Collection by descentA copy of the book, Charles M. Russell: The Storyteller’s Art, by Raphael James Cristy (University of New Mexico Press) containing numerous references to Medicine Whip, is included in this lot.