Only 20 polychromed examples of Harry Jackson’s iconic bronze masterpiece entitled Pony Express were cast; this is the actual artist model from 1967. The artist model is the example or standard that is used, by which all the others are made with regard to color, patina, texture, and detail. AM (artist model) is embossed into the base, in addition to the date and the artist’s signature. It is the finest example, and most closely resembles the artist rendering of the subject and what he was trying to accomplish. It embodies his vision and is his creation. While the others (#1-20) are done under his supervision and guidance, they are often worked on by craftsmen in the foundry.

Harry Jackson wrote, “There is a wonderful cowboy expression that you hear to this day – ‘packing the mail.’ If somebody goes by a mile a minute, I mean if he’s afoot or in an automobile, whatever it is, you say, ‘He’s packing the mail.’ It certainly comes from the pony express rider, who rode between St. Joe, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, along the North Platte and the Sweetwater rivers and with outlaws and Indians trying to stop him from doing what he set out to do and no law to protect him. He wasn’t interested in wiping them out, he was just interested in defending himself and standing them off, doing his job of packing the mail.”

PROVENANCE
The Estate of Harry Jackson
[The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction, 2011, Lot 50]
Clive and Ronnie Devenish, Incline Village, NV 2011

LITERATURE
Larry Pointer and Donald Goodard, Harry Jackson (New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1981), pp 234- 5, plate 299, illustrated

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