1905 The Rattlesnake

A rattlesnake and antelope had once been a subject of Remington’s art in a Harper’s Weekly pen and ink, thus indicating Remington’s intrigue of how larger animals react in common to a rattlesnake. Perhaps Remington himself experienced this sort of jolting surprise, and thus was able to effectively convey in the horse and rider the surprise which reacts in comparison to the tension effect of a coiled spring.
The Rattlesnake was copyrighted in 1905. Remington enjoyed modeling this piece so thoroughly, that after it was finished, he completely reworked it over a ten day period. The new piece was nearly four inches taller than the original version, and the position of the out lines was also greatly altered. The head, neck and back legs of the horse, and the angle of the cowboys body, now flowed in a more pronounced arching motion. He recorded in his diary,” It has taken much longer to model than I had any idea of but it is a good job and a good bronze, well worth while”.
This piece is Remington’s third most popular sculpture ever, probably due to the fact it adds the elements of the fashionable bronco with those of a close encounter with death. One of Remington’s acquaintances Charles Frances Roe, once a Calvary officer, related to him that “The best thing I’ve ever seen (referring to the sculpture). I had a horse bitten by a rattle snake near the Custer battle field (Little Big Horn) while I was on his back…”
Remington went on to tell his founder Riccardo Bertelli; how he could’ve spent days just positioning the snake on the base of the sculpture, and the only thing limiting him was his time and patience. He cast the piece at Roman Bronze Works the very next morning after finishing it.