Repository
University Archives, duPont-Ball Library, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida
Description
El Texan Vaquero (The Texas Cowboy), bronze metal sculpture with dark brown patina by Charles Brinton Cox (American, 1864-1905), that belonged to hatmaker and University benefactor John B. Stetson. Signed on base: Copyright / Chas Brinton Cox / 1898. Titled on base: El Texan / Vaquero. Unknown if Cox gave the sculpture to JBS or if he bought it, but it belonged to him and was passed down to his great-grandson, Lewis Stetson Allen. Lewis donated the sculpture to the University (date of donation unknown). El Texan Vaquero, 1898 is a rare work by the American artist, Charles Brinton Cox. The subject very specifically depicts a Texas Cowboy in a Stetson hat, astride his mount, dramatically leaping over a Texas Prickly Pear cactus in pursuit of his target, an errant steer. Painter and sculptor Charles Brinton Cox, 1864-1905, was born in Philadelphia, dying young in his early forties of tuberculosis in Camden, New Jersey, where he lived. The artist sculpted animal and figure groups and emphasized historical subjects in his paintings after 1890. Cox studied with Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia and studied at the Art Students League in New York City. He traveled frequently to paint and sculpt in Texas, California, Oregon, California, and Mexico.
