The plaster model for this bronze was noted in the inventory of Nancy C. Russell’s estate taken after her death in May 1940. The aviation pioneer C. R. Smith, a native Texan and a friend of Amon Carter, acquired the bulk of the Nancy Russell estate in 1941. A codicil in Mrs. Russell’s will stated that her estate was to make copies of any of her husband’s works in bronze that were not in the estate at the time of her death. Smith erroneously assumed that the small model of the bear had once been cast in bronze, and he arranged for one casting of the model to be made by the Nelli Art Bronze Works. That bronze is on display here, and was part of the collection of bronzes sold to Amon G. Carter in 1946. In fact, research has shown that no bronzes of the little bear model were ever cast in Charles or Nancy Russell’s lifetimes.