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The Indian Hunter

1860, cast by 1883
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 758
With his statuette of a Native American youth and his dog, Ward answered the call for sculpture modeled by home-based, rather than expatriate, artists in a realist style. He imagined an Arcadian hunting scene, a stark contrast to the reservation system by then established to confine Indigenous peoples to U.S. government-specified tracts of land. He later enlarged his model, making refinements based on drawings and wax studies from an 1864 trip to Dakota Territory. An overlifesize bronze was dedicated in New York’s Central Park in 1869, becoming the first sculpture by an American artist to be erected there.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Indian Hunter
  • Artist: John Quincy Adams Ward (American, Urbana, Ohio 1830–1910 New York)
  • Date: 1860, cast by 1883
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 16 1/8 x 10 1/2 x 15 1/4 in. (41 x 26.7 x 38.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Morris K. Jesup Fund, 1973
  • Object Number: 1973.257
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

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