Very Substantial Vintage Indian Theme Bronze Bookend Pair [SOLD]

This pair of bronze patinated cast iron bookends is substantially heavy to support books of any scale.  The image on each is that of James Earle Frazer’s End of the Trail life-size bronze sculpture. These bookends date to circa 1920s-30s.

The image depicts a Native American warrior hanging limp as his weary horse comes to the edge of the Pacific Ocean.  The sculpture is a commentary on the damage Euro-American settlement inflicted upon Native Americans. The main figure embodies the suffering and exhaustion of people driven from their native lands. 

Fraser first modeled the subject in 1894. He based it on his experience as a boy in the Dakota Territory. His memoirs state, "as a boy, I remembered an old Dakota trapper saying, 'The Indians will someday be pushed into the Pacific Ocean.'"  Later he stated "the idea occurred to me of making an Indian which represented his race reaching the end of the trail, at the edge of the Pacific.

The original End of the Trail sculpture made by James Earle Fraser 100 years ago is in Waupun, Wisconsin, United States. But a more massive and final rendition of his image was also done in 1915, and it is now in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where it was restored and is now on display at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. This version should be viewed in the YouTube video we provide here (see to the right below any book references) just to get the scale of this effort.

The End of the Trail image on this pair of bookends is in relief sculptural form.  The background surrounding the warrior and the base of the bookend are sculpted in textured format to represent sky and ocean waves.   

Condition:  this Very Substantial Vintage Indian Theme Bronze Bookend Pair is in excellent original condition

Provenance: from a gentleman in Santa Fe

Recommended Reading: BECOMING BRAVE The Path to Native American Manhood by Lane Thom

Relative Links: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum