Jim Ponter Gunfighter

"THE GUNFIGHTER" BY JIM PONTER - FINE PEWTER LIMITED EDITION SCULPTURE, NUMBERED 3751/4500, THE WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM 1979 - SIGNED IN THE CASTING A genuinely nice piece of western art, and a step up from a shelf figurine. A limited edition fine pewter sculpture titled "THE GUNFIGHTER" by the American western sculptor Jim Ponter, modeled as a gunfighter in a long duster coat and wide-brimmed hat crouched forward at a hitching rail, revolver extended in his right hand, left hand braced on the rail, with a second holstered revolver and a cartridge belt at his waist and a rifle scabbard behind. The irregular ground-form base is textured with hoofprints and horseshoe impressions and is signed in the casting Jim Ponter. The underside carries a molded plaque reading THE GUNFIGHTER / by / Jim Ponter / FINE PEWTER / THE WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM 1979 / 3751/4500 - so it is titled, attributed, dated, and individually numbered out of an edition of 4,500. It stands approximately 10 to 10.5 inches tall. Condition is very good with no damage found: the detail is crisp throughout, the revolver barrel and the fine hands are intact, and the piece shows only light darkening and tarnish in the recesses along with normal handling marks and dust. Four felt pads are applied to the underside. The original box and any certificate of authenticity are NOT present and are not included. Sold as one sculpture. Description Form - cast fine pewter figural sculpture on an integral irregular, naturalistically modeled ground base with a separately modeled two-rail hitching rail rising behind the figure. The figure is a standing gunfighter caught mid-stride, body turned and crouched, right arm extended level with a single-action revolver in hand, left hand flat on the top rail. Modeling detail includes a wide-brimmed hat with a braided or rope hatband and a creased crown, a mustache and shoulder-length hair, a neckerchief tied at the throat, a buttoned vest over a shirt, a long open duster coat with flapped pockets and a turned collar, a cartridge belt with individual molded cartridges, a holstered second revolver, a boot-topped trouser leg, and lace-up boots. The base surface is textured with hoofprints, horseshoe impressions, boot tracks, and scattered pebbles. Marks - incised into the top surface of the base in the casting: Jim Ponter. Molded into a recessed rectangular plaque on the underside of the base: THE GUNFIGHTER / by / Jim Ponter / FINE PEWTER / THE WESTERN HERITAGE MUSEUM 1979 / 3751/4500. The number 3751 of 4500 is the individual edition number of this casting. No city or state appears with the museum name in the mark, and no foundry or producer name is molded into the piece, so none is claimed. Size - approximately 10 to 10.5 inches tall overall, with a base approximately 5.5 to 6 inches at the widest point and the hitching rail spanning approximately 5 inches, per the tape-measure photographs. In every measuring frame the tape stands beside the piece on the shelf or lies flat across it rather than being hooked to an edge, so all of these figures are close estimates only. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. The piece was not weighed and no weight is given; pewter of this size has real heft. Underside - the recessed maker's plaque is clean and fully legible, and four round dark felt or velvet pads have been applied around the perimeter - an owner addition, not factory, and easily removed by the buyer if wanted. Photographed on a dark oak shelf and table against a white wall. Nothing else appears in these frames; the single pewter sculpture pictured is the entire lot. The Milwaukee tape measure is a photographic reference only and is NOT included. Attribution note Jim Ponter was an American sculptor known for western and southwestern subjects, listed in the auction trade with life dates of 1923 to 2007, and his pewter figures turn up regularly at auction under titles including The Wrangler, The Fur Trapper, Comanche Warrior, Sioux Hunter, and a long run of Native American chief portraits. Replacements Ltd. catalogs a series of Pewter Western Characters by Jim Ponter under the pattern name Western Heritage Figurines by Western Heritage Museum, and lists The Gunfighter within it with a production year of 1979 - which matches the plaque on this piece exactly. The commissioning arrangement behind this series is documented in a period advertisement placed by the Western Heritage Museum in the January/February 1982 issue of the magazine The American West, archived by NPSHistory.com. That advertisement announced Ponter's The Wrangler, described it as a major work commissioned by the museum, stated the sculpture would be produced by the craftsmen of The Franklin Gallery by appointment of the Western Heritage Museum, and specified an edition permanently limited to 4,500 pieces, each individually numbered, accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, with the molds destroyed after the edition was comp