Horse Scratching

1910
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
Throughout his career, Simons specialized in animal statuettes. The horse was Simons’s favorite, and he portrayed it often, relying on intimate scale to focus on behavioral characteristics. "Horse Scratching," modeled and cast in Paris, is an amusing study of the animal’s attempt to scratch its head with its rear hoof. Traces of a greenish blue patina suggest that Simons was experimenting with the color of this cast, a reflection of an interest he shared with fellow American expatriate sculptor Paul Wayland Bartlett.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Horse Scratching
  • Artist: Amory Coffin Simons (American, Aitken, South Carolina 1869–1959 Santa Barbara, California)
  • Date: 1910
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 4 3/4 in. (22.9 x 20.3 x 12.1 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist, 1948
  • Object Number: 48.167.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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