2022 March :: Hermon A. MacNeil

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The “Apache Papoose” an early Native American study by Hermon MacNeil

Posted by: Dan Leininger, Webmaster | Comments (0)

Recently, I procured a plaster casting by

Hermon

Atkins

MacNeil

The work was a very early study dating back to the 1890’s.

The image re-appears as part of a larger sculpture entitled

‘Mother and

Papoose’

A bronze casting of that later work was listed by

J. N. BARTFIELD GALLERIES₁

They state that:

According to the Roman Bronze Works ledger, Only two casts of Mother and Papoose were ever done, both—#1 and #2 on the same day: November 9, 1906. No other casts are known. (Source: https://www.bartfield.com/ retrieved on 1-25-22)

This detail of the bronze ‘Mother & Papoose’ shows the similarity of the plaster model of 1894 and the bronze casting of 1906.

Of the Papoose model, MacNeil scholar and College Point author, James Haas, wrote the following:

“In the summer of 1895 [when MacNeil traveled in the Four Corners area] he modeled two dozen Indian-themed pieces. His subjects were Utes, Navajo, Acoma and Moqui Indians from which sprang his most famous work, Moqui Prayer for Rain.” Mother and Papoose appears to have been modeled by MacNeil while he was on this trip.

1892 0r 1894

Whether the Papoose plaster was made in 1892 or 1894 is in disagreement. James Haas suggests the later date.

The Papoose is dated in Roman Numerals. At first glance they could be read as:

MDCCCXCII

But there is an additional “I” at the end of the hand engraved date on the crown of the papoose. It could appear to be the other side of a letter ‘V’ which would offer an alternative reading of the Roman Numeral date as:

MDCCCXCIV

which changes the last digit to reads out as a 4 (IV) rather than a 2 (II).

The ‘1894’ reading of the date fits better into the known timeline of MacNeil’s life after the ending of the Chicago Worlds Fair — Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893.

1892 Papoose by Hermon Atkins MacNeil

J. N. BARTFIELD GALLERIES ₁

AMERICAN, WESTERN & SPORTING ART

Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947)

According to the Roman Bronze Works ledger, Only two casts of Mother and Papoose were ever done, both—#1 and #2 on the same day: November 9, 1906. No other casts are known. Of the model, MacNeil scholar, James Haas, wrote the following, “In the summer of 1895 [when MacNeil traveled in the Four Corners area] he modeled two dozen Indian-themed pieces. His subjects were Utes, Navajo, Acoma and Moqui Indians from which sprang his most famous work, Moqui Prayer for Rain.” Mother and Papoose appears to have been modeled by MacNeil while he was on this trip. A Massachusetts native, Hermon Atkins MacNeil studied in Boston, New York, and Paris before being asked to work on the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1891. While there, MacNeil saw Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and was inspired to take his classical training to the American West. MacNeil’s bronzes of Native Americans, perhaps more than those of any other sculptor, portray majesty while preserving the individuality of the subject. The spirituality Macneil’s First Americans convey is expressed through lightness and solidity rather than other worldliness.

Hermon Atkins MacNeil

Mother and Papoose

Roman Bronze Works N.Y.

Cast N.1

16 1/2 inches high