Ross Butler Horse Sculpture for Dawes Black Horse Ale Advertising Sign

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About the Item

Ross Butler Horse Sculpture for Dawes Black Horse Ale Advertising Sign Plaster horse sculpture advertising sign by Ross Butller for Dawes Black Horse Ale. Unsigned. Free shipping within the United States and Canada. As visual merchandising evolved, more and more companies began providing material to promote their products. Dawes Black Horse Brewery was no exception. It commissioned the artist Ross Butler (1907-1995), to produce two large painted plaster figures representing a pair of black Percherons, based on horse sculptures that Butler had made for the American Percheron Association in 1938. Only the mare of the pair remains and is held in the Musée de Lachine collection. Butler later produced smaller black stallions, in cast iron or plaster, of which the Musée owns three different versions, all signed. These statuettes promoted the brewery or its flagship brand, with the name written in contrasting colours on the base, and provided visibility for the brand and its emblem. Ross Butler’s horse figures are of a calibre unmatched by the work of other artists who made statuettes for Dawes Black Horse Brewery. The accuracy of the proportions and the quality and meticulous finishing of the casts are remarkable. A self-taught artist, farmer and breeder, Ross Butler was commissioned by the Ontario government in the 1930s to paint true types of North American livestock breeds to be used for agricultural education and breeding purposes. His theories of animal proportions significantly influenced agricultural scientists at Ontario’s University of Guelph. In 1997, he was inducted into the Ontario Agricultural Hall of Fame, at the Agricultural Museum in Milton, and into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame, at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. Butler’s talent was admired beyond Canada’s borders, and in 1938, the American Percheron Association commissioned him to sculpt 12 Percherons ideal for breeding (mares and stallions). This led Dawes Brewery to buy two sculptures signed by Butler and to commission him to produce smaller Percherons for use as Black Horse beer promotional items. The Black Horse statuettes were displayed in drinking establishments and at trade fairs. The largest statuette in the Musée’s collection represents a mare in painted plaster.

Dimensions:
Height: 20 in (50.8 cm)Diameter: 4 in (10.16 cm)
Place of Origin:
Canada
Period:
1940-1949
Date of Manufacture:
Circa 1940
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. This item has some wear and paint loss. Please see pictures.
Seller Location:
Hamilton, CA
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU135522402442

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