A Jaguar
1885
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
13 x 9 x 20 in. (33 x 22.9 x 50.8 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture
American
Department
The American Wing
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. James P. Paulding, 1918
Accession Number
18.80
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum Art, Edward Kemeys' *A Jaguar* (1885) captures the raw power and sleek ferocity of its namesake predator in gleaming bronze. Measuring just 13 x 9 x 20 inches, this compact sculpture invites close contemplation, its muscular form poised in mid-stride, every sinew and whisker rendered with lifelike precision. Gifted to the Met in 1918 by Mrs. James P. Paulding it exemplifies Kemeys' mastery as a pioneering American animal sculptor during the Gilded Age. Kemeys, often hailed as the "father of American animal sculpture," drew from direct observatio...