SAWYER’S NATIVE AMERICANS MEDALS INFO SOUGHT

Edward Warren Sawyer (1876-1932) was a little-known sculptor who was trained at the Art Institute of Chicago. He made three trips to the west in 1904, 1908, and 1912. His first trip in 1904 was to Yuma and Ganado, Arizona where he lived and worked with members of the Yuma and Navajo Nations. Four years later, Sawyer traveled to Agua Caliente, Arizona and resided at the Apache Nation. His final trip was extensive, finding him in Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Montana.

Sawyer created clay models and plaster casts of a number of Native Americans on these trips. My research has found nine different subjects from his 1904 excursion, three from his 1908 trip, and 26 from his 1912 venture. Three of his models are known in two different versions, for a total of 41 varieties.

Many of Sawyer’s subjects were obscure, although some are well-known to history students today. One of those was Curley (or Curly), a member of the Crow tribe in Montana who worked as a scout for George Armstrong Custer and who was the only survivor of Custer’s battalion at the Battle of Little Big Horn. A Google search for “Curly Custer Scout” will provide considerable biographical information.

The Medallic Art Company created bronze galvanos from Sawyers plaster casts soon after each of his visits. A galvano is a metallic shell that is one sided. The back is typically filled with lead or some other material to provide strength to the shell.

Surviving examples are extremely rare and almost exclusively found in museums, and no single complete collection exists. The American Numismatic Society has 37 examples, the Art Institute of Chicago has 35, the Smithsonian Institution has 32, the Massachusetts Historical Society has 31 examples, and the University of Reno has 31 examples. All of those are 2-3/4 inches in diameter with nine additional examples in a private California collection, five at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France, and two sold by Bonham’s in June 2017 as previously reported in The E-Sylum.

A small number of five-inch diameter galvanos were also produced, and the Whitney Western Art Museum at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming has 23 of the larger diameter galvanos. A wonderful collection of 18 additional large size examples from a private collection will appear in the Heritage Auctions June 2018 Long Beach sale, and those are the only large diameter pieces known to me outside of museums.

I am working with Medallic Art Company historian Dick Johnson and former Salmagundi Art Club head curator Robert Mueller to publish an in-depth article and census of the 41 varieties. We have currently located 226 examples in the two different sizes and would like to hear from anyone who has knowledge of others at MarkB@HA.com.

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
ANS PUBLISHES EDWARD SAWYER’S NATIVE AMERICANS MEDALS ONLINE (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n46a12.html)
MORE ON EDWARD SAWYER'S INDIAN MEDALS (http://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v16n47a16.html)
SAWYER NATIVE AMERICANS MEDAL GALVANOS (http://www.coinbooks.org/v20/esylum_v20n22a26.html)

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