Muddy Monday: Collector Gatherings

Alternate Title: How To Have Fun Without A Show Nucleus

I will intersperse personal experiences with the tips on how to organize it. Rather than a report that might inspire envy, the aim is to encourage you to arrange your own gathering, in your own neighborhood. The intent of collector gatherings is not to replace shows. If anything, it augments one's overall hobby experience. The pressure and crowding of a show is not for everyone. There are some friends I only get to see in this tour setting, because it is within their comfort level.

1. Select a geographic region that has several collectors willing to have visitors view their private collections. This is your gathering's range. Some areas of this country have four or five, all within an hour of each other.

To further qualify stops on the tour, it is most convenient if the selected collections are all out on display. Even if their collections aren't unpacked or displayed, the collectors themselves may want to participate on the tour as visitors, which is fine. It's not ideal to go box by box, although it has been done before without damage. Comfort levels are much better for everyone when the collections are behind glass and don't need to be touched.

I feel that gatherings are a fantastic way to learn, and to find new material to share with you, via this blog. I currently participate in one annual tour in the DC area. I already host a ceramics show every so often, but a multi-collection tour has a whole different vibe to it. It's an addition to the hobby experience that I love so much, I just want to make more of them happen.



2. Ideally, there is a percentage of overlap between collection foci within the tour, so that there is a chance to see variants of some editions, while also seeing the works of multiple manufacturers and artists.

For example, the DC tour has collectors with overlap in collecting Hagen-Renaker, bone chinas, European porcelains, artist resins, animal art, and custom glazes. Individuals also have unique flavors they bring to the tours, such as sci-fi and fantasy art, Native American art, canine artifacts and collectibles, bronzes, dolls, glass, and even Tiki mugs. 



3. To get everyone out together and seeing the sights, replace a show/competition with another event: a birthday celebration; an antiques show; a flea market weekend; a real horse farm tour or show.

A gathering or tour doesn't need an event to give it a reason, but it does help if everyone can get the time off from work for the same days. If weather does not permit attending an outdoor event, pick a home where everyone can meet.



4. Invite new people to participate. It's not a better gathering if it has record attendance, but it is nice to hear new opinions and see different things.

There will always be an ebb and flow of the participants each year, as their personal schedules allow. Generally speaking, those who are interested in getting together to learn and see collections tend to be over the age of 18, so we've had no concerns of liability for damage caused by a minor. We are all adults, and aware that we are personally responsible for our actions or accidents. If you start a tour, you may wish to generate a liability release and parent/guardian responsibility document if minors will be included. I only mention this because I was interested in ceramics as a minor, so there may be others out there. However, it is doubtful that grabby infants and toddlers, young children, or even adults who can't keep hands off of stuff, will be invited to such breakable events.



5. Each person is bringing their unique perspective, experiences, "sightings in the wild" of collectibles, and their items for show & tell. It's important to take turns and let everyone have the floor.



6. This sounds silly, but learn from my repeated error: carry throat lozenges. With like-minded people and no rushing to and from judging tables, you will talk a lot more than usual. You may lose your voice after a couple days of this.



7. Get an idea of everyone's food preferences and dietary restrictions in advance, so it's easier to choose restaurants or plan meals. Some gathering locales have more restaurant choices than others. Where I live is pretty limited without a minimum 30-minute drive!



8. Bring stuff. I 'd suggest bringing several types of things: gifts for everybody or personalized gifts for individuals; paper leave-behinds for future contact (business cards, etc.); show & tell from your personal collection that is best viewed in-person.

Even if you are flying to the destination, you can fit some vintage photos, or maybe photos burned on gift discs, buttons or medallions, business cards, etc. in your carry-on. Even though you are going to go see things, it's nice to bring things!

This reunion photo was possible only at a tour gathering.

These are three horses personally glazed by the sculptor, Maureen Love.

L-R: models courtesy Elizabeth Bouras, Jo Ellen Arnold, and Keith Bean.

9. Be ready to be happy and gain so much more from the gathering than you ever thought possible. You will learn new things. Mysteries will be solved by someone else's experiences that they never thought to mention before. You will see cool stuff, some of it stuff never seen by anyone but the owner. You will absolutely be surprised by something. You will wish you had a recording of it all, to play back at will.

Something unusual that you will get to see at a collection tour is a rare Hagen-Renaker family, or pair, together. As "collector's classes", a group entry of 8 or more models, have fallen out of fashion in favor of individual horse Collectibility qualifying, it is now unusual to see rare colors of families displayed together at shows. Tours are just full of them!

Models courtesy Janet Hicks.

10. Be super flexible. It takes flexibility from all parties to put together a weekend of three or more collections on a tour.



11. Mutual respect is expected, regarding photographs and any handling of collectibles. These are so important, especially in today's internet, and the sticky situations of liability for damage to handled items. If someone doesn't want to pose in a group photo, don't harry them. If they ask you to not photograph their collection or home, do not do it. It is the height of rudeness to post photos of someone's collection anywhere without their express permission. It is also grounds for exclusion from further tours. If someone gives you verbal permission to touch an item, it is OK. If none is given, the default setting is touch nothing. Don't fingerprint their glass, and don't try to open anything without asking for help.

At a show, there is tolerance for people asking if items are for sale, or what their value may be. In someone's private home, it is not cool to ask if something is for sale. Exceptions may be if the owner has told you "This group/cabinet is for sale", or you know that the owner is the source for the exact items via public sale (Special Run dealer or ceramist).

Some things are so rare and delicate that only the owner should touch them. If the owner is afraid to move the object, or move other items around it, don't press them. They know the delicacy of that particular piece best.

Model courtesy Elizabeth Bouras.

Shows are fun, but they are not the only reason to visit with friends and spend all day talking about the art and animals we love. Thank you, DC crew! The tour is the highlight of my year.

Muddy Monday: Intent of Purpose

This is another Collectibility opinion piece, based on my own experience as both a producer and collector of ceramic figures.

Something that is hard to grasp about pieces that fall into the "gray areas" of provenance or collectibility is Intent of Purpose. In my opinion, this should be considered before one runs with an assumption about whether or not an unmarked piece is a legitimate test, and competes it as such. It doesn't matter if you want the piece to be a test or not. What matters is, what did the factory that produced it consider it to be? What did the factory intend to learn or achieve with this item?

How the producer's intended purpose for an individual ceramic item affects what we call it today, where it shows, and its value when it is resold.


Glaze Tests

Today's model horse potteries are careful to mark all their tests clearly, in pigment beneath the glaze, on the hoof soles, or with fired-on glaze decals. These potteries are run by people with at least a working knowledge of the model horse hobby and show definitions. They know how important it is to mark such rare items clearly, even if they do not foresee these items leaving their archives or reaching collector hands in their lifetime.

Pour Horse Pottery "Suspiro"

Left: a marked test, with my name because I was the one who wanted to know

 if a "contrasty" bay could be achieved in our glazes!

On the right, a marked glaze custom with the name "Pour Horse", 

because it was intended to be the company's donation to a benefit auction.

This came out a second, so it was replaced with a perfect and identical custom donation.

Normally, customs from this factory bear the decorator's name, 

and occasionally a "©PHP" because they own the sculpture design.

In recent years, Hagen-Renaker has taken to marking tests clearly. This helps build collector excitement for them, and ensures correct recognition of special items, for generations to come. There are still occasional unmarked tests, perhaps doing double-duty as Dealer Samples?

On the left is a normal reissue Sespe Violette in dapple gray.

On the right is a test mulberry (aka "white") with iridescent dark teal ribbons.

Did any other reissues come with this ribbon color?

She lacks a number and has no test mark, but has excellent provenance.

A year later, that excellent provenance was backed up by found paper documentation.

Vintage factory tests, be they HR or any other pottery, may or may not be marked. I have seen a vintage HR glaze test marked only with the serial number of the underglaze or slip tint color used on it. Most of the HR vintage tests I have seen have no marking. I know of three (maybe four) vintage tests with factory stickers.



Decorator or Greenware Assembly Samples

Some smaller studio potteries may re-purpose a test as the decorator's work station guide. Pour Horse Pottery and my own pottery did this. The test would be used as the guide, unless new techniques changed the edition (it's another way variants happen).



Dealer Samples

Some Miniatures pieces were glazed onto HR Lilypads and sent as Samples for Dealers. The hard base would be more durable than a standard HR paper card, and could be easier for transporting to shops and giftware shows. An article in a collector newsletter (I will post reference, when I locate it again) said a dealer glued samples to smoothed (vein-less) brown Lilypads for his/her own use. These were later recalled by the factory, according to that report. Here is one that is very certainly glazed to the beige veined Lilypad, not glued. I even checked for glue edges with a blade. It was most likely done by the factory, with the intent of being a Dealer's Sample. In fact, that is this piece's provenance, at time of sale from a collector.

Dealer's Sample HR Miniatures Donkey Baby mold # A-021

Sculpted by Helen Farnlund.

Lilypad is not smooth.

Not all Dealer's Samples are as obviously different or marked. This was purchased direct from the dealer, and at slightly higher price than her regular pieces, because it was her only sample. It bears no marking.

Again, the producer's intent is what matters: neither of these samples were intended for retail.



Prototypes for molding 

In the case of modern potteries, these may be made of green or brown plastilina (oil-based clay), Plasti-Carve wax, brown foundry wax, Castilene, or resin. 

PlastiCarve HR guinea pig.

Mold Tests and Security Bisques

The HR mold security bisques are sometimes confused with the mold-numbered sample bisques that were submitted to Breyer in 1974.

The way mold test bisques were described to me is that these are the first castings poured in the first production mold. They are white bisque, even if the final product is produced in a tinted slip. These castings tell the moldmaker if he or she has made a production-line-friendly mold, and where any pulls or errors may be located. The mold security or "insurance" bisques serve another purpose: if something happens to the master block-and-case that generates the production molds, the bisque can then be pulled from the archives and remolded. This has occurred at least a couple times in HR history. Think of these bisques as safety nets for each design. Depending on the factory, at least one, and up to several copies of the same design, may be archived.

Pour Horse Pottery "Suspiro" mold security bisque, out of the waste mold.

The rusty marks are where brown plastilina residue remained in the waste mold, 

and adhered to him when he was poured.

Custom Glazes Outside the Factory and Employee/Factory Customs

This is a very important type of model to distinguish from tests. These, in my opinion, should not show as, nor be sold as, tests. There are whole divisions at model horse shows that welcome custom glazes; they have a place. Happily, current potteries mark their customs clearly, to avoid accidental misidentification. A collector who has paid for a test on the secondary market, only to find out from the factory that it is a custom instead, is not a happy collector. Today's potteries, with the perspective of history, mark pieces clearly to avoid this.

This is an example of a vintage non-factory Custom Glaze on a white Ferseyn. Note how the artist imitated a San Dimas eye decoration.

Dapple gray custom glaze Ferseyn by a collector (Mary Ann Black).

Note the glazed/pigmented initials and year, on hoof.

"Are there vintage custom glazes finished in factories, or are you just trying to scare me?" Oh, yes, I was present when a factory moldmaker, and later, Jim Renaker himself, described certain pieces as custom orders, or playful experiments, but not tests. 

HR vintage factory custom glaze

The intent is the big difference: if the factory does not intend to reproduce it, or see if it can be produced, it is not a test for production. That's pretty much the cut-and-dried reason tests ever exist: to try out a potential for the production line. Some of the custom items that leap to my mind were heavily, intricately detailed by free-hand airbrushing, a technique that would not have been efficient or affordable for a whole production run. Such decoration would have been completely unreasonable for mass production, without the use of modern masking techniques. Sometimes, a potter just wants to know if something can be done at all, for fun.

A glaze color that was originally a custom, but is repeated later on a whole edition of a mold, has a double provenance. The factory's initial intent is what is important, here; a model should be sold/competed as the identity marked by the factory. Only in very specific situations, where direct evidence can be shown that the producer went back and enlisted that exact model as a guide to produce an edition, is it appropriate to also mention that the model is a test. There is no room in today's serious collecting world for selling pieces as "I think this was not just a custom, but a test, because I saw a similar color/pattern later on X edition." If you have it in writing from the factory, if the source of the model was the factory archives (where tests reside), and/or compelling photographs, you can build a case for it being a test + custom.

Fortunately, today's market is about equally strong for glaze customs as it is for tests. Between these two, there is limited monetary incentive to ignore the maker's intent. Both are high dollar items, now. This was not the case years ago, when values flip-flopped between the two. Of course, mistaking a lesser-value production run for a pricey test or custom will quickly be caught by sharp eyes, so there is no point or reward in falsifying collectibility designation. 

"This one has a little bit [bigger/fewer/more] spots, it must be a test!" No. The HR books and this blog have shown many examples of how wide variations can range.

"This one has initials carved in the hooves, it must be a test!" No. Many vintage models have employee initials. There will be a whole post about these, in the future.

Devil's advocate: "What if it is vintage piece that is totally weird?" Generally speaking, there is some kind of paper trail, eBay auction forum thread, or collector familiarity with the exact unusual piece in question, because this is a small world. Some pieces can be easily traced back to a specific factory employee. Some are dealer estate sale finds. Some can be traced back to an infamous counterfeiter. An eye for production and materials, and interpreting factory artifacts on the piece, will help you determine a lot before you reach the documentation-hunting phase.


Fakes

They are out there. Searches on the breakables yahoogroup will yield some discussions of fake tests on vintage bodies. There is a report of reglazed or retouched eyes of (at the time) less valuable San Dimas mini horses to pass them off as (at the time) more valuable Monrovia. Suffice to say, HR never used a sponge to apply overglazes/glass paint/ underglaze on top of an otherwise normal, completed, airbrushed, glazed horse. Knowledge of factory techniques for each product line can help guard against making an expensive identification mistake. If you have a suspected fake, feel free to contact me privately. I may be able to direct you to those who can identify it, or I can help interpret it from photos.

A Violette By Any Other Name... Is Called Crusader

It's time to settle in with a cup of tea, and indulge in this long Love letter to two of the ceramic horse world's most beloved sculptures: "Sespe Violette" and "Crusader". 

As discussed in the prior post about Nataf, many of the Hagen-Renaker models were styled after real horses. Hagen-Renaker pottery's Sespe Violette model was a portrait of a real horse, living and working in Southern California. Maureen Love probably sculpted her in 1953, since the first examples were released in Spring of 1954. 

Original HR Sales Sheet for SV, Fall 1954

The real Sespe Violette was foaled on May 11th, 1944, and bears the Belgian Draft Horse Corp. of America's registration #M32116. She was in fact, a mare, despite her rather masculine physical and tacked appearance. As collector Cynthia Perry points out, "I always found it rather odd that 'Sespe' was tricked out in a stallion surcingle, when generally draft mares are shown in a halter only!"

Maureen herself glazed this casting of Sespe Violette, but it is interesting to note that the registered markings for the real SV are quite different.

Photo courtesy collector K. Bean

Photo courtesy collector K. Bean

Photo courtesy collector K. Bean

Horse in background is a regular factory finish Monrovia era example. Photo courtesy collector K. Bean

Owned by K. Bean, photo courtesy D. West.

Below is an example of a factory-produced (OF) SV, which is much closer to the real mare's registered description: "dark sorrel, star, light short stripe below eyes, mane light, black hooves." There is no notation at all about any white leg markings. This probably means that the white color HR used was meant to represent her pangare or pale chestnut hairs on her lower legs, but they stayed true to her black hooves! 

Dark Monrovia version, photo courtesy K. Wellman.

A lighter Monrovia, photo courtesy K. Wellman.

An even lighter Monrovia, photo courtesy K. Wellman.

The Belgian Draft Horse Corp. was very helpful and friendly, but apologized that their electronic records do not yet include the older registered entries, some of which were handwritten. Both of Sespe Violette's parents fall into this category. All I can tell you is that her sire is #S19959 and her dam is #M19287. If you happen to access an old studbook of 1942-1944, I'd love to know their names.

The real SV was first owned by Rancho Sespe of Fillmore, CA. While no information on their Belgian breeding program was readily available, here is an adorable crate label for the farm's citrus, its best-known produce. Imagine standing your Sespe on a printout of that in a Collectibility class at a live show? Or shrinking the image, and having her haul a wagon full of crates for Performance? 

There is yet another potentially accurate performance entry for this sculpture. The story goes that SV was one of the Belgians who pulled the starting gate for Santa Anita. If true, it makes sense that Maureen would have seen her there, as she regularly sketched the Thoroughbreds at Santa Anita, during their morning workouts. The Belgians also had the duty of harrowing the track for the races. There were different Belgian teams employed, apparently owned by different people, over the years. Some of the owner names in personal recollections online are Tom Parks (Charming Alibi) and Dewey burdan. SV's owners are not connected, as far as my research probed. The earliest Santa Anita Belgian reference I found was 1939 and the latest 1974. 

Maybe somewhere in this image is a laboring Sespe Violette?

Found on Google, from Milwaukee Journal, 1939.

There is a little confusion online about the breed identity of the drafters used at Santa Anita, prior to the era of employing tractors. USC's archive patron seems to have misidentified the Belgians in this image as Clydesdales. The Belgians were the first employed, followed by the Budweiser Clydesdales, originally from the nearest Busch attraction. The Clydesdales again made a guest-pull of the 1984 Olympics equestrian events medal podium at Santa Anita. They still make an appearance for Santa Anita opening day each year, but they are no longer pulling the starting gate, just their wagon. 

This is not to imply the Belgians were frail weaklings who needed replacing. A team of Belgian geldings named "Bob" and "Leo" were retired from Santa Anita in 1954 and went straight to the same duties at another racetrack, Rillito, in Tuscon, AZ. The source claims that they "Once won a California pulling contest; at one time were the second largest Belgian draft team in the world." Not exactly pansies, nor shrinking "violettes"!

According to this sports reference, at least some of the Belgians were still employed as of 1956. Gotta love the description, "beer-truck-sized". One look at a Sespe ceramic, and you can imagine it.

Here is a tiny photo and blurb from the Arcadia Tribune, 1964. "Starting Gate Team Sam and Bud Quit Races", a rather tiny print image about the retirement of another pair of Santa Anita's Belgians. When you consider the immense strain and logistics of quickly hauling the starting gate off the track before the Thoroughbreds finished each race, it's understandable that the Belgians were retired with frequency. It was not like plodding farm work!

The closest date I found online for the Belgians' complete replacement is 1974. A longtime employee at Santa Anita informed me that, "The Belgians left in the '60-70's; the Clydesdales left in the early '90's, and they were there for ten years." 

No hard evidence of Sespe Violette's formal employment could be found online, from Santa Anita itself, nor with her registry. Her last recorded owners were Darrell and Jan Livesay of Clinchport, VA; she was last purchased April 25, 1961. Her age and date of death is unreported.

She lives on, in a sense, as a beloved ceramic portrait. I could go on about how beautifully round the draft muscling and silhouette is, and I do, quite often. I love old-type draft horses. Here are several lovely vintage glaze variations of this model, all chestnut or "sorrel", plus some oddities are included here. HR produced the Sespe Violette mold # B-567, in 1954-5, and during the San Dimas era, from Fall 1967 to Spring 1968. 

Monrovia example, photo courtesy D. West.

Monrovia example, factory goof, missing a metallic ring on her surcingle. 

San Dimas example, owned by J. Pook, photo courtesy D. West.

San Dimas factory unique glaze or possible test, photo courtesy D. West.

Note the different tack and braid colors.

This piece came from the estate of former HR decorator Marie Benzango.

This piece was originally mounted to a redwood base, which was a rare means of marketing some HRs in the late 1960's.

The base crumbled in shipping, but the photo below shows the original condition.

San Dimas example, photo courtesy D. West.

Very dark San Dimas example.

Photo courtesy of Hagen-Renaker Pottery: Horses and Other Figurines by Nancy Kelly, Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

My observation is that the Sespe mold sculptures are different between the Monrovia and San Dimas factories by the following points: the faces have different profiles; cheekbones have different curves and angles; ears are different; different neck wrinkles. Even a crispy Monrovia SV head is softer in detail than a typical San Dimas SV.

Left: Monrovia SV; right: San Dimas SV, photos courtesy D. West.

Left: Monrovia SV by author. This is considered a very crisp example of Monrovia SV, as even her mane crest hairs are sharp.

Right: San Dimas SV by D. West. My apologies that the angles aren't a perfect match, and it is the unusual glaze one. 

Speaking of mold differences, the later SV mold derivation is titled, "Crusader", and is designated as a Percheron. This appears to not be styled after a specific Percheron. There was a Crusader 1523, gray filly, foaled in 1874, but that is the closest without added words in the name. The name may have come from the breed's origin story, linked with the Crusades.

Original HR Sales Sheet for Crusader, Spring 1959

Crusader is mold # B-706, produced in variably gray-shaded white in the Monrovia era from Spring 1959 to Spring 1960, and then in San Dimas from Spring 1966 to Spring 1967. As with the two eras of SV, the Monrovia and San Dimas Crusaders appear to have different face details. As usual, San Dimas is more angular, narrower in profile, and sharp. 

Monrovia era Crusader.

Some collectors don't like crackle, but how can one not love crackle, when it follows real hair growth patterns?

These two different colored and styled eyes are on the same model above.

Factory goof? I would say so.

Monrovia era Crusader, photo courtesy D. West.

San Dimas era Crusader, photo courtesy D. West.

Maureen personally glazed this Crusader. It is the one shown for the mold's entry in the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Hagen-Renaker.

Just to be double-awesome, here are photos from a photoshoot by K. Bean, a rare moment with both Maureen-glazed molds in the same location. These images make me indescribably happy. 

This chart was meant to give some idea of the mold differences, but resulted in a relationship of casting thickness (thick clay walls = heavier) to the horses' measurements. It's interesting to note the Charlton HR Handbook gives 6" tall for Sespe, and 6.25" tall for Crusader. 

The most notable differences between SV and Crusader are the Crusader's reduced leg feathering, loose mane and tail, and lack of any tack.

Note in each photo, Crusader's heels are free of feathers. Sespe's are webbed with hair.

Hair and braid detail of Sespe's tail.

When the Monrovia Sespe on the left was pulled out of the mold, 

her right legs were tugged slightly, but they were not straightened before drying. 

This is why she has a winging out foreleg and pointing-right hindhoof.

The Crusader is normal.

Mane and crest detail. Note the different neck wrinkles.

Collector values (not necessarily what eBay brings) of vintage Sespe Violette models flutter around $1,000-1,200, and a crisp, vintage Crusader may bring $900. However, condition, glaze free of flaws, and mold detail are key to the high end values. Most of the examples shown in this post are outstanding and some are even one-of-a-kind glazes; their values range 2-5x the collector value of a "regular" SV or Crusader, depending on who glazed it and when.

You may be thinking, "That's it. That's all there is to say about these."

Test San Marcos Crusader, photo courtesy C. Perry.

And then, I blew your mind with the San Marcos Crusaders. Yes, and they almost happened, too! This San Marcos test Crusader was one of the oddities that my friends (with me the tag-along) picked up at Skip's and shipped carefully to a grateful collector, back in the mid-1990's. Cynthia Perry is that original owner, and she shares the following about its origin:

"Color: test gloss rose grey

Production: One of 4 test San Marcos ‘Crusaders’

Before the end of the San Marcos era in 1986, H-R considered re-releasing ‘Crusader’ as a special run for Karen Grimm of Black Horse Ranch. However, the factory decided against it when a single collector complained that a re-release would harm values on original Monrovia and San Dimas era pieces.

FOUR test San Marcos ‘Crusader’ Percheron pieces were produced, this gloss rose grey, a similar rose grey in matte, a gloss rose grey with a dark mane and tail and an unusual “bay” with black mane and tail, but no dark points.

Of those four tests, three were sold by H-R in a group lot to Karen Grimm of Black Horse Ranch. The last piece remained in the hands of a former H-R moldmaker, who sold it privately at a later date."

You have not missed your chance to obtain one of these charming draft horses at a reasonable price. The HR factory reconsidered the above argument of loss of value, and is currently offering the reissue Sespe Violette in a range of colors. It appears to be the San Dimas mold version.

Reissue test glossy chestnut, photo courtesy D. West.

In closing, on Friday, May 11th, don't forget to wish the real "Sespe Violette" a Happy 68th Birthday, wherever she may be! I think I'll ask for a reissue Sespe, in celebration of her birthday. A birthday gift by any other date would be as sweet!


UPDATE 6/9/2015:

It was great to finally see one of the elusive Japan copies of the Crusader mold. There are actually several different ones out there, including a reverse copy with jewels for eyes! In the comments below, a collector included links to their copy, stating it is a direct recast. 

I grabbed one of my authentic Crusader photos, then matched the cropping, and resized to match the collector's image. Then, I overlaid her image to determine if they were same mold. 

The head and jaw is the most obvious difference, followed by stance of legs. Crusader also has different shapes to her light leg feathering, as well as different ear position. If one exams the other angles of the copy, the mane is completely different from Crusader. It is likely that the designer was following a Crusader as their guide, but it is clearly sculpted by another hand. It is a very handsome copy, and I would like to find one, someday!

References

Anonymous. "Mighty Belgians Get Santa Anita Track In Shape." Milwaukee Journal 10 Feb. 1939: 22.

Belgian Draft Horse Corp. of America.  http://www.belgiancorp.com/

Benuish, Alison, ed. Hagen-Renaker Research Materials: 1949- Present. N. pag. Salisbury, MD: WMHC, 1995.

eBay.com

Haupt, Steve. Thread: "Army farriers in WWII and Japan." Society of the Military Horse internet forum. Post #17, April 20, 2012. 

http://www.militaryhorse.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11405

Kelly, Nancy. Hagen-Renaker Pottery: Horses and Other Figurines. Page 154. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.: Atglen, PA, 2000.

Kelly, Nancy. Hagen-Renaker: Through The Years. Page 76. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.: Atglen, PA, 2001.

Kelly, Nancy. Horse, Bird, and Wildlife Figures of Maureen Love: Hagen-Renaker and Beyond. Pp. 6, 77. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd.: Atglen, PA, 2003.

Murphy, Pat. "Hoofbeats" column. Santa Ynez Valley Journal. Feb. 8, 2010. 5/2/2012.

http://www.santaynezvalleyjournal.com/archive/8/7/5957/

Pers. comm., unidentified Santa Anita Park long term employee, 5/3/2012.

Pers. comm., Jane at The Belgian Draft Horse Corporation, 5/2/2012.

Roller, Gayle. Hagen-Renaker: A Charlton Standard Guide. Third Edition. The Charlton Press: Palm Harbor, FL, 2003.

"Scanned Document." Rillito Race Track Final Significance. Page 18. 1986. 5/2/2012.

cms3.tucsonaz.gov/.../rillito_racetrack-chute_final_significance.pdf

USC Digital Library

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search/controller/view/chs-m11495.html?x=1299463315590

West, Dara. Pers. comm. 4/30- 5/4/2012.