Old West & Native American Auction
Lot 1311:
Description
This is an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind relic of Western showmanship: a set of seven death masks of famous Western outlaws. These masks were fashioned by Arthur V. Fraser, the “Dean of Display,” for the Pop Palmer’s Freak Circus, which toured America and Europe around the turn of the century. Fraser, who worked for Marshall Field & Co. was a pioneer of store window manikins. He casted some of the original masks directly from the subjects, while others were made from portraits and measurements. These plaster masks are mounted in a rustic wooden display cabinet with description placards and several pieces of Confederate currency. A prop double-barrel, sawed-off shotgun is laid across the bottom. The masks are identified as: Bill Dalton, Bill Clinton, Cherokee Bill, Louis Carver, Lam Lawlett, and Harvey Logan. These masks were part of an original group of 60 masks, with only seventeen surviving. The masks are in very good condition for traveling around the world. The wooden cabinet and display pieces, to include the currency and shotgun, show wear and patina for their age. Case Size: H 38.25” W 56.25” D 4.75”
From Donley’s Wild West Town Museum
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