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Robert Summers(born 1940)Spirit of the Plains 13 1/2in high
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Robert Summers (born 1940)
inscribed '"SPIRIT OF THE PLAINS" / © / Robert Summers 1976 / 22/30' (along the base)
bronze with brown patina
13 1/2in high
Modeled in 1979.
Footnotes
Literature
S.H. McGarry, Honoring The Western Tradition: The L.D. "Brink" Brinkman Collection, Kerrville, Texas, 2003, pp. 230, 296, illustrated.
The artist once wrote to L.D. Brinkman discussing the present work, "I wished to show the main method used by the Plains Indians in processing food and shelter for his family - one might say he was a decoy or 'buffalo caller' - he would approach the buffalo herd, draped in a buffalo robe and start the herd moving - finally following him - then he would lead the herd to a near-by precipice - where, hidden members of the tribe would lunge from cover, stampeding the herd over the edge - sometime killing hundreds of buffalo! Crude, but effective - this was in widespread use by the Plains Indian, before the advent of the Spanish horses!"1
1 Robert Summers, unpublished letter, February 20, 1991.




















