Carl Ethan Akeley American, 1864-1926 The Wounded Comrade Bronze Three (3) elephants cast in 2005 by Turner Sculpture, Onley, VA. Invoice dated 3/11/05 from Turner Sculpture accompanies this lot.
Carl Ethan Akeley (American, 1864-1926) The Wounded Comrade, conceived 1913, cast 1927 Bronze with brown patina 12 inches (30.5 cm) high Inscribed on base: The Wounded Comrade / Carl Akely [ sic] / 1913 Inscribed on the underside: A. No. 2. PROVENANCE: Mary Akeley, the artist's wife; Tiffany & Company, New York, acquired from the above, July 1927; The Perkins Family, Lee, Massachusetts, acquired from the above; By descent to the present owner. LITERATURE: P.J. Broder, Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1974, pp. 247-49, another example illustrated; V.S. Schmitt, Four Centuries of Sporting Art, Mumford, New York, 1984, p. 142, another example illustrated. Renowned as a taxidermist, conservationist, biologist and photographer, Carl Akeley was also a skilled sculptor. In 1909, Akeley accompanied Theodore Roosevelt on a year-long expedition in Africa funded by the Smithsonian Institution, and subsequently he began his work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where his efforts can still be seen in the Akeley African Hall of Mammals. Akeley specialized in African mammals following his first African trip in 1896, particularly the gorilla and the elephant. The artist conceived the idea of creating a full-scale African diorama to show the animals in their natural habitat. As a taxidermist, he improved on techniques of fitting the skin over a carefully prepared and sculpted form of the animal's body, producing very lifelike specimens, with consideration of musculature, wrinkles, and veins. He also displayed the specimens in groups in a natural setting. Many animals that he preserved he had personally collected. The Wounded Comrade portrays a scene that Akeley had directly observed in the wild; when an elephant is wounded, others from the herd will rush towards the injured animal in an attempt to convey it to safety. Fellow sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor suggested that Akeley cast a series of these models into bronze. The first and most famous work in the series is The Wounded Comrade. Akeley initially cast The Wounded Comrade in 1913, and between 1913 and 1917, he went on to produce 23 examples in total at the Roman Bronze Works foundry in New York. Much like the authorized posthumous castings by Frederic Remington's widow, Mary Lee Jobe Akeley cast a number of her late husband's bronzes in the late 1920s, some of which bear the letter "A" on the body of the work. The "A" numeration was the serial number assigned to this round of casts. The history behind the present work is unique and extraordinary. This particular bronze was commissioned in July 1927, one year following Akeley's death in Uganda, by Mary Akeley. This particular cast was made for Tiffany & Company, and Mary Akeley delivered it personally to Tiffany on July 27, 1927. The present work was subsequently purchased by the Great-Grandfather of the present owner from Tiffany & Company, and has remained in the family ever since. HID01801242017
Carl Ethan Akeley (American, 1864 - 1926)"The Wounded Comrade, 1913"plaster castingsigned and titled on base12-1/2" x 20"Provenance: The Estate of Diana Atwood Johnson
Bronze. Signed lower left base "Carl E. Akeley (c) 1914" SIZE: 12" h x 23-1/2" l x 7" d PROVENANCE: From a fine Downeast Maine home. NOTE: Accompanying this lot are letters between Mrs. Carl Akeley and the buyer also a letter from Mrs. Akeley telling the buyer that the bronze foundry will ship the bronze "today". The letter is dated 1928, and indicating a purchase price of $425.00. CONDITION: Very good with a dark brown bronze patina 1074-2
STUNG Akeley was a staff naturalist for the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, from 1885-1909. He was a member of the National Sculpture Society, the New York Architectural League, and the National Institute of Social Sciences, all in New York City. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City, showing numerous African animals, including Stung.
CARL ETHAN AKELEY (American, 1864-1926) The Wounded Comrade, 1913 Bronze with brown patina 12 inches (30.5 cm) high Inscribed on the underside: A. No. 2. PROVENANCE: The Perkins Family, Lee, Massachusetts; By descent to the present owner. LITERATURE: P.J. Broder, Bronzes of the American West, New York, 1974, pp. 247-49, another example illustrated; V.S. Schmitt, Four Centuries of Sporting Art, Mumford, New York, 1984, p. 142, another example illustrated.
CARL ETHAN AKELEY (1864-1926): "STUNG" Bronze, signed and titled and impressed Roman Bronze Works, NY; modeled as an elephant trampling a serpent (as is); together with a miniature bronze trumpeting elephant signed C. Akeley. 4 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. and 9 1/4 x 9 in.
The Old Man of Mikeno inscribed and dated 'The Old Man of Mikeno/Carl Akeley SC. 1923 Kunst Foundry N.Y.' (along the base) bronze with blackish-green patina 261/2 in. (67.3 cm.) NOTES Carl Akeley, an innovator in the fields of taxidermy and photography, was also an accomplished sculptor. His bronze groups of animals are displayed prominently throughout the American Museum of Natural History in New York where he was an associate curator in the Preparation and Mammology departments. Among his assistants were the sculptors James Lippett Clark, Robert Henry Rockwell, Charles Robert Knight and Louis P. Jonas. In 1921 Akeley went to the Virunga Mountains to collect mountain gorilla specimens for a diorama exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History. The killing of his first gorilla, a silverback which he named The Old Man of Mikeno after the mountain of the same name, was a turning point for Akeley. Looking into the dead gorilla's face, he had a change of heart. Recognizing the species' similarity to humans, he no longer wanted to destroy gorillas. He recognized their rarity and the need for research into their natural history. Akeley's party collected five gorillas that today form an integral exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Following this expedition, Akeley urged the Belgian government to create a permanent sanctuary for the mountain gorillas, and became instrumental in the establishment of the Albert National Park located in the Congo in Africa, in 1925. SALESROOM NOTICE Please note that the Albert National Park is located in the Congo in Africa, not in Canada as written in the catalogue. Please also note that another model of Old Man of Mikeno is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Natural History and is presently on view in the primate wing.
Carl Ethan Akeley (1864-1926) the wounded comrade inscribed The Wounded Comrade/&copr; Carl E. Akeley/1913 with the Kunst Foundry N.Y. foundry mark bronze, brownish black patina, with elephant hide mat height: 12in. (30.5cm.)
