Signed 'Copyright by Frederic Remington' on base; also with 'Roman Bronze Works N.Y.' foundry mark; also inscribed 'N 128' under base, bronze with brown patina (some damage to whip)

Provenance

Private Collection, New York.

Literature

Michael Edward Shapiro, Peter H. Hassrick et al., Frederic Remington: The Masterworks, New York: Harry N. Abrams for the Saint Louis Art Museum and Buffalo Bill Historical Center, 1988, p. 172, pls. 47-48 (another cast illustrated).

Note

One of the most recognizable sculptures by Remington, "The Broncho Buster" was executed in 1895 and copyrighted later that year. At this time Remington had just begun to break away from two dimensional works and turn to sculpture, and the present bronze portrays a rugged, Western frontier character in a dynamic pose, the bronco rearing and the cowboy hanging on fiercely to both reins and mane.
Remington famously presented another cast of the present work to President Theodore Roosevelt, who organized the "Rough Riders" in 1898. The first voluntary cavalry in the Spanish-American War, they were comprised of cowboys, miners, law enforcement officers and Native Americans. The Rough Riders participated in various battles during this war, and are best remembered for their charge up San Juan Hill in July, 1898. "The Broncho Buster" is notable and related to those who fought with the Rough Riders who bravely rode horses and defended America under Roosevelt.