2012 Coeur d’Alene Art Auction / Lot 133
Lassoing Horses is listed as number 442B in the Alfred Jacob Miller Catalogue Raisonné.
The original purchaser of Lassoing Horses was Col. Brantz Mayer, a native of Baltimore, Maryland. An author and attorney, Mayer was a founder of the Maryland Historical Society. Lassoing Horses was purchased directly from the artist and has remained in the same family for over 170 years.
Miller found the Indians to be extremely good athletes, particularly when it came to horseback riding. “On approaching the band, his body swaying to and fro,” Miller wrote, “the noose part is flourished above the head, and as opportunity offers, is flung with great precision and dexterity around the neck or leg, whichever appears most feasible to the Indian.” The rope used in this instance is made of plaited bull hide and is “remarkably strong, pliable, and of sufficient weight for throwing well, about 25 feet long, one end generally secured to the rider’s horse.”
PROVENANCE:
The Artist
Col. Brantz Mayer, Baltimore, Maryland, circa 1840s
Present owner, by descent through the family