Amon Carter print details
A bronze sculpture of four cowboys riding horses while holding their guns high in the air.
A bronze sculpture of four cowboys riding horses while holding their guns high in the air.

Coming Through the Rye

Frederic Remington (1861-1909)

Object Details

  • Date

    1902, cast ca. 1916

  • Object Type

    Sculptures

  • Medium

    Bronze

  • Contributors

    Cast by Roman Bronze Works

  • Object Format

    Lost-wax casting

  • Dimensions

    30 7/8 x 29 3/4 x 28 1/4 in.

  • Edition

    No. 12 of an estimated 15 authorized casts, the first 8 of which were numbered lifetime casts. An additional two unnumbered prototypes were produced in the artist's lifetime. [estate cast]

  • Inscriptions

    On the base: Copyright by. \ Frederic Remington

    Plaque adhered to side of the base: PRESENTED TO MR. A. BARTON HEPBURN \ BY THE OFFICERS OF THE CHASE NATIONAL BANK OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK \ AS A TOKEN OF THEIR ADMIRATION AND AFFECTION FOR A PERSONAL FRIEND, A PROFOUND SCHOLAR, AND A BRILLIANT BANKER \ ALBERT H. WIGGIN GERHARD M DAHL WILLIAM E. PURDY M. HADDEN HOWELL \ EUGENE V. R. THAYER ALFRED C. ANDREWS CHARLES D. SMITH S. FREDERICK TELLEEN \ SAMUEL H. MILLER CHARLES C. SLADE WILLIAM P. HOLLY ROBERT I. BARR \ EDWARD H. TINKER EDWIN A. LEE GEORGE H. SAYLOR SEWALL S. SHAW \ CARL J. SMIDLAPP LEON H. JOHNSTON \ JANUARY 1, 1918

    Inside the base, inscribed: N[o] 12

    Foundry Mark:

    On the side of the base: ROMAN BRONZE WORKS N- Y-

  • Collection Name

    Amon G. Carter Collection

  • Credit Line

    Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, Amon G. Carter Collection

  • Accession Number

    1961.23

  • Copyright

    Public domain

Object Description

In March 1902, Remington wrote Riccardo Bertelli, the head of the Roman Bronze Works foundry in New York City, explaining that he was hard at work on a sculpture that portrayed four rambunctious cowboys on their mounts as they galloped along, shooting off their pistols. The composition was derived from an 1888 illustration that he prepared for an article written by future president Theodore Roosevelt, and it proved one of Remington’s most technically accomplished creations. The artist wanted as many of the horses’ hooves lifted into the air as possible—in the finished version, only six of the 16 legs touch the ground—and it took the artist and the foundry nearly seven weeks to devise a workable design. Despite the complexity and ingenuity of the cast, sales were disappointing. Coming Through the Rye was bulky, heavy, and expensive, and fewer than 10 were made in Remington’s lifetime. This is a posthumous cast, authorized by the artist’s widow.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023)

Additional details

Location: On view
Part of: Amon G. Carter Collection
W28-artist-CMYK-CarterBlack
See more by Frederic Remington

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Educator Resources

  • How do artists portray action and adventure?

    How do artists create a sense of movement, motion, or action in their artworks?

    How might artists take experiences and apply them to different mediums?

    How does the depiction of action in sculpture compare and contrast to action in an illustration or in literature?

  • All Levels

    Using stencils, create an action-packed cowboy scene. If you have time, write the story of your cowboys.

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