Four original letters and a bill of sale from Frederic G. Renner to Tom Seymour will accompany the lot.

Russell historian Rick Stewart wrote, “Nature writer Ernest Thompson Seton, whom Russell met during one of his first visits to New York, was noted for his stories of wildlife featuring a central character with human attributes. One of these was Krag, a magnificent Rocky Mountain sheep, whose exploits appear in Seton’s collection of stories The Lives of the Hunted (1901). Seton follows Krag’s life from birth to eventual rise as a leader of his band after defeating his rivals in combat, climaxing when Krag is forced to fight his chief opponent on a rocky precipice. ‘The rams backed off, each measuring the other and the distance, and, seeking for firm footing, kept on the edge of a great bench; then, with a whoof! they came on again,’ Seton wrote. ‘Whack! And the splinters flew, for they both were prime. But this time Krag clearly had the best of it. He followed up his advantage at once with a second whack! at short range, and twisting around, his left horn hooked under the right of his foe, when, to his utter dismay, he received a terrific blow on his flank from an unknown enemy. He was whirled around, and would have been dashed over the cliff but that his horn was locked in that of his first foe, and so he was saved.’ In the ensuing struggle, the treacherous second attacker went over the cliff, and Krag defeated his principal rival for leadership.

“The drama of Seton’s account is echoed in The Combat, Russell’s masterful evocation of two rams fighting on the edge of a rocky cliff. As with other works, Russell seems to have had the idea for the composition in the back of his mind for some time. A small watercolor rendering of an identical subject appeared at the head of one of his letters to Philip Goodwin, written at a time when the younger artist was trekking with Carl Rungius in search of mountain sheep.”

According to Russell expert Frederic G. Renner, this particular example is most likely the first casting of The Combat, and is the only known example ever to come to auction. American sculptor Gutzon Borglum pronounced it as, “The finest study of animal anatomy by any American artist.”

PROVENANCE
Babcock Galleries, New York, New York
George D. Sack, Jamaica, New York, 1924
R. W. Baldwin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Frederic G. Renner, Washington, D.C.
Tom Seymour, Fort Worth, Texas, 1967
Present owners, by descent

LITERATURE
Earl C. Adams, “The Most Valuable Russell Bronzes.” Persimmon Hill, vol. 3, no. 2, 1973, p. 68, example illustrated

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.