Borglum modelled this lovely depiction of a bronze rider while he was studying sculpture in Paris. Then, he was known as "The sculptor of the prairie" for his realistic action-filled potrayals of men on horses. Based, on his own experiences as a working cowboy, having grown up and managed his family´s range  in Utah. Borglum´s arrangement of figures is complex and must be viewed from different angles to be clearly understood. Some writers in Borglum´s day used to be adjective "fabulous" to describe a bronze like this one, reffering to its high degree of action. Borglum died unexpectedly at the hight of his fame, consequently, good examples of his work are hard to obtain. It is estimated that six copies of this bronze were made, but onlz four of them -including this one- have been located.,

The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Armywas small and understaffed in comparison to its status during the American Civil War roughly thirty years prior. As a measure towards rectifying this situation President William McKinley called upon 1,250 volunteers to assist in the war efforts. The regiment was also called "Wood's Weary Walkers" in honor of its first commander, Colonel Leonard Wood. This nickname served to acknowledge that despite being a cavalry unit they ended up fighting on foot asinfantry. Wood's second in command was former assistant secretary of the United States Navy, Theodore Roosevelt, a man who had pushed for American involvement in Cuban independence. When Colonel Wood became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, the Rough Riders then became "Roosevelt's Rough Riders." That term was familiar in 1898, from Buffalo Bill who called his famous western show "Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World." The Rough Riders were mostly made of college athletes, cowboys, ranchers, miners, and other outdoorsmen.

(Credit; Wikipedia)

 http://www.cartermuseum.org/exhibitions/tales-from-the-american-west-the-rees-jones-collection

"September 5, 2015–February 21, 2016
Dallas collector Trevor Rees-Jones first became interested in art and the American West when visiting the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as a young boy.

Years later that experience led Rees-Jones to gather one of the finest private collections of art of the American West, spanning the eighteenth century through the 1920s, including paintings, watercolors, sculpture, and photographs. The selection of the Rees-Jones Collection on view marks its debut showing in a museum."

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.

Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)