Jaguar (Panther)

Artist Anna Hyatt Huntington American, 1876 - 1973

Foundry Gorham Manufacturing Company American, Providence, Rhode Island, founded 1831

Dateca. 1906

Place of OriginProvidence, Rhode Island, United States of America

MediumBronze

DimensionsOverall: 6 3/4 x 2 1/8 x 4 1/2 in. (17.1 x 5.4 x 11.4 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineBequest of Charlotte Pruyn Hyde

Object number1971.96

On View

On view

Collections

Sculpture
American Paintings & Sculpture

SignedOn the back of the sculpture at base: "Anna V. Hyatt".

InscribedInscribed on base: "45 GORHAM CO> FOUNDERS 0.88." (recheck this the O may be a Q which is the letter Gorham used to indicate bronze castings)

DescriptionAnna Hyatt Huntington gained international fame in 1915 for her over life-size bronze equestrian sculpture of Joan of Arc, erected at the intersection of Riverside Drive and 93rd Street in New York City. But already in 1898, she had begun creating hundreds of small sculptures of animals: large felines like jaguars, leopards, lions, and tigers were her favorites. Several of those, including The Hyde’s “Jaguar Reaching,” were based on Señor Lopez, a so-named Paraguayan jaguar who was the first to occupy the Lion House at the Bronx Zoo. Here he stretches on a rocky ledge, reaching down stealthily with his left front paw and focusing on his nearby prey: he is poised for action. The surface of the bronze is beautifully modelled, revealing his sleek coat and tensed musculature.

Huntington grew up in Cambridge, MA, where her love of animals was fostered by her extensive observations in zoos and circuses, as well as by her father, Professor of Zoology at Harvard. By the early twentieth century, Huntington had become known as one of the best animal sculptors. The “Jaguar Reaching,” modelled in wax and cast in bronze beginning in 1905, became enormously popular. Still selling in 1936, two hundred and fifty-one casts of it were produced.

Text by Penny Howell Jolly, Professor Emerita of Art History, Skidmore College, July 2026
Exhibition History"Family Matters: American Impressionism and Realism," The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, Apr. 27- July 27, 2003.Provenance1963, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust (Bequest of Charlotte P. Hyde)