Monday, May 15, 2023

Inspired Not Just By Islam: Gladys Brown Edwards' "Classic Arabian Stallion" Trophy



I'm not really a fanciful person. But lately I've almost felt like the spirit of author, artist, and Arabian horse expert Gladys Brown Edwards (1908-1989) has been looking over my shoulder, whispering, "Tell about that thing that happened. Tell that story!"  That's because I keep finding examples of her art, and am compelled to look up the stories behind them.

Original Quarter Horse pencil sketch, signed "Gladys Brown 1947,"
found at an estate sale several years ago. 

Although I never met Gladys, I keep passing through the long shadow cast by the woman so well-known in the Arabian horse community in the last half of the twentieth century that they just called her "GBE."  

Gladys Brown Edwards horse with Western tack,
found at an estate sale by the author

I'll find a piece of her artwork at an estate sale, or read an article on her, or peruse her correspondence and look at her scrapbooks in the collection of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library (WKKAHL) at Cal Poly Pomona. And I get the quiet nudge: "Now tell that story!" 

Miss Gladys Brown,
in the 1948 edition of Here's Who in Horses of the Pacific Coast

In this post, I'm ultimately going to tell the story of the time that Gladys sent a metal horse through the mail to a very important friend, and how the horse did not make it to the recipient intact. 

I've told many of Gladys' stories in my horse-related blogs in the past. About her designing Boston Terrier dogs for the California pottery, Hagen-Renaker, Inc., and meeting the quiet equine artist Maureen Love, who is little-known outside the model horse hobby.

Source: Hagen-Renaker Online Museum

About Gladys designing a trophy/bookend for the Morgan Horse Association of the West.


About bringing Gladys' large original painting of the great Arabian stallion *Orzel from Arizona to WKKAHL just before the pandemic brought the world to a temporary halt in 2020.

About watching someone buying one of Gladys' life-size fiberglass Quarter Horses, produced by Prewitt's, at an estate sale, tying it to the top of his car, and taking it home. 


Three weeks ago, I found an example of an Arabian horse US Nationals Trophy at a  regional estate sale. I told his story in a blog post (link below).


Two weeks ago, I traded for a pair of Arabian foal bookends by Gladys Brown Edwards at a model horse collectors' gathering.

Their story is pretty straightforward. The foals are marked on the base "Dodge, Inc. Gladys Brown 1946."


Each foal is about 7" tall at the ears, and 6.25 inches wide at the base. Interestingly, they're about the same scale as the Arabian US Nationals trophy I'd found at an estate sale the weekend before. The adult Arabian trophy design originally dates to 1968. 


I had recently seen another design by Gladys of two Arabian foals  at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library (WKKAHL). It's in the collection of materials from the US Army Quartermaster Remount Depot in Pomona, California -- site of cereal magnate W. K. Kellogg's famous Arabian horse ranch. Gladys drew these foals for the cover of a printed program for an event celebrating the Pomona Remount's second anniversary, in October 1945.

Arabian foal illustration by Gladys Brown (Edwards), in the collection of 
the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, Cal Poly Pomona. Photo by the author.

A year later, in 1946, GBE's  Arabian foal bookend designs were copyrighted and produced by Dodge, Inc., which issued many of her other metal horse designs. 

So, three weekends ago, I found the US Nationals trophy -- designed by GBE. 

Two weekends ago, I found the Arabian foal bookends -- designed by GBE.

And this past weekend, I found one of GBE's "Classic Arabian" trophies at another estate sale.  

Here's the story I feel like I'm "supposed" to tell now. 

This particular trophy was in trouble. At some point in the past, it had been damaged. Two of its three "down" legs were broken at the ankle, and the metal base under the hooves had come loose from the wooden base that held the plaque commemorating the winning horse's award. Knowing its backstory, I took pity on it and brought it home.


The trophy design dates to 1946. Gladys and her then-husband Cecil Edwards called it the "Classic Arabian Stallion."


When the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library at Cal Poly Pomona had their "Becoming Gladys Brown Edwards" exhibit a few years ago, they showed one of the trophies with photos of its prototype. 

Photo by the author of a display in "Becoming Gladys Brown Edwards,"
W. K .Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, 2016-2017.


It's common to hear this piece referred to as "Islam," because the owners of the real stallion Islam, the Payne family, used the trophy top to market their horse, who was foaled in 1939.



Some online sources repeat the story that the stallion Islam was the inspiration for the GBE "Classic Arabian" trophy, but that's not the whole story.

Letters from Cecil Edwards, Gladys' then-husband, in the collection at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library explain that Gladys used several Arabian stallions to make this composite design. One was addressed to Mr. Kellogg himself, and is dated 1946.



Another letter, dated 1950, explained to Forrest Mars (of chocolate fame) that the Classic Arabian Stallion design was influenced by "the most impressive Arabian horses that were available" to Gladys at the time, including Islam, *Lotnik, Alyf, and others.



Islam (b. 1939, Gulastra x Nafud)

*Lotnik (gr. 1938, Opal x Mokka) (Polish)

Alyf (gr. 1938, Ronek x Fath)


The name of the metal GBE design might be confusing to model horse collectors, since Breyer also called one of its plastic figurines the "Classic Arabian Stallion." The two horses are roughly the same scale, but the difference in design (and material) is obvious. 

Gladys Brown Edwards "Classic Arabian" (1946), left;
Breyer "Classic Arabian Stallion" (1973), right

Breyer licensed the Hagen-Renaker, Inc. 1958 ceramic design for "Ferseyn," by Maureen Love, to produce their own Classic Arabian Stallion in 1973.

Breyer Classic Arabian stallion, left; Hagen-Renaker "Ferseyn," right

Ferseyn (gr. 1937, *Raseyn x *Ferda) 

Top-heavy, balanced precariously on three tiny hooves, 6.5 inches tall (off the base) and weighing in at almost 3.5 pounds by himself (without the base), the GBE Classic Arabian is rather tippy and prone to breakage. 

This is evident in a letter from Cecil and Gladys Brown Edwards to the influential English Arabian horse breeder, Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth, in 1948, a copy of which is at WKKAHL. 

The couple had mailed one of the "Classic Arabian" trophies to Lady Wentworth. She had written to tell them it had been damaged in the post. Her letter is not in the WKKAHL collection. (Note the misspelled the name of her stud, Crabbet Park, in the reply.) 


So Lady Wentworth, Gladys, and Cecil would have understood just how prone the "Classic Arabian" trophy top is to being broken, as was the one I found at the estate sale. 

The trophy was very popular among Arabian horse lovers around the United States. Here's a photo showing one of the trophies being awarded to Radamason in Michigan:


Here's a clipping from the Pomona, California Progress-Bulletin in October 1948, showing one of the trophies, mounted on an elaborate base, being used as the W. K. Kellogg Perpetual Trophy of the Arabian Horse Breeders of Southern California. 




Another collector has contacted me asking if she can obtain my broken Classic Arabian from the estate sale so she can restore it. Given its graceful design, and the piece's history, I know it will be well worth a try. 

____

For more information on Gladys Brown Edwards and her art, here are some links:

The "Finding Aid" for the Cecil and Gladys Brown Edwards Collection at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, which contains a good summary of her life and career:  

GBE "Farana" cowboy and horse design, part one:
Part Two:

Quarter Horse trophy designs by GBE:  

*Orzel painting by GBE:

Prewitt's fiberglass Quarter Horse:

"Parade Morgan" Bookends:

Morgan Horse Club of the West Trophy:  

US Arabian Nationals Trophy: 

Gladys Brown Edwards, Hagen-Renaker, and Maureen Love:  




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Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Saddling Up in Santa Ynez: Merle H. Little's Silver Tack and Chaps




Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum & Carriage House. It was well worth the drive to see its collection on display, and the interesting current exhibit "The Evolution of the California Stock Saddle." 

But I had an ulterior motive: what I really wanted to see Merle Little's saddle. I was fortunate to visit the Museum with some of his family members.




If you follow this blog, you'll know that in 2022 I received a collection of horse photographs, written materials, and other objects from the estate of Monrovia/Duarte horse rancher Merle Hartley Little. Tracking down the history of Merle, his family, and his horses has led me on a fascinating journey that helps illustrate just how much impact horses had on California in the mid-twentieth century. 

The young Merle made his own riding gear. The Monrovia News-Post reported on September 11, 1931, that Merle had studied metalcraft at Monrovia High School prior to crafting his own saddle.




This wasn't Merle's only silver saddle. A photo in an album from his estate proudly displays two silver-mounted saddles, along with bridles, breast collars, and chaps.



Merle and his wife Edna May often rode together in parades and other events. Here they are at a 1933 Labor Day event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.



The July 18, 1974 edition of the Arcadia Tribune ran a feature story on Merle and Edna May, with a photo of Merle and his saddle. 


The photo caption noted that Merle had used it in 23 Tournament of Roses Parades, and that he had made the saddle when he was attending Monrovia High School. "He engraved all the silver and worked it into the leather over a three-year period," the newspaper noted. 

After Merle passed away in 1975, Merle's saddle, bridle, breast collar, and chaps were donated to the Museum by his wife and daughters, through the auspices of his longtime friend, trick roper and horseman Montie Montana. Merle's family saved this collage they put together with photos of the two friends, the saddle, and a clipping from the Rancheros Visitadores' On the Trail News. The newsletter was from 1976, when Montana was the head of a rodeo sponsored by the Rancheros Visitadores. 

The clipping said the donation was made "on behalf of the Rancheros. Merle Little was a former member of the Rancheros and the donation is much appreciated."


(The Lompoc Record newspaper that year reported that the saddle had belonged to Montie Montana, but the engraved silver shows that it is indeed the saddle Merle Little made.) 

The Santa Ynez Museum's collection holds not only Merle's saddle and bridle, but also his chaps. (I looked, but didn't see the breast collar that went with the saddle on display.)  The chaps are marked with the initials MHL, for Merle Hartley Little. 



Merle's silver mounted riding outfit seems to have evolved over time. One of the first photos of him wearing the same or similar chaps, and riding his black and white pinto horse Thunder, was taken at the 1933 Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena. 




You can see the silver lettering standing out against the black leather, surrounded by a blanket and collar of roses and ferns.



The Arcadia Tribune newspaper noted that Merle and other riders from the Santa Anita Riding Academy took part in the Rose Parade representing the city of Arcadia:

 "Mr. Little's horse," the paper noted, "was gaily accoutered with a blanket of roses and ferns and wore a collar of red roses. His saddle, too, was exceptionally handsome with silver mountings."

And in another building on the Museum property, in a case by itself, is Merle's silver mounted saddle. It looks like it might be the same saddle, with different fenders (the part between the seat and the stirrup) and tapaderos (the decorative leather covering the stirrup), as the one in the photo from 1931.



It can be identified by the embossed letters "MHL" on both sides of the pommel, or swell, under the saddle horn.



The letters appear more clearly when I adjust the color and clarity on the photo.


In the middle of the back of the cantle, behind the rider, is a raised silver monogram that seems to contain Merle's initials. 



I wonder if it's the same saddle that appears on Thunder on the left of this photo of Merle, Thunder, and Patches.




Merle's silver-mounted bridle, in the center of the photo below, is also of black leather. It's on display in the main Museum building, on the back wall across from the entrance. 

Photos from his estate show that Merle owned a number of different silver-mounted bridles over the decades, worn by his Pinto and Morgan parade horses. Since he was adept at making tack, Merle may have "repurposed" parts of his bridles to fit a particular horse. I found a photo of what seems to be the same bridle worn by his prize-winning Morgan stallion Lippitt Morman (chestnut, 1939, Mansfield x Lippitt Kate Moro) from the late 1940s-early 1950s.  



In the photographs Merle left were some images of himself with his friend Montie Montana in Merle's later years. 



Even though he didn't use his parade tack on trail rides, it's appropriate that Merle's saddle, bridle, and chaps are in the museum in Santa Ynez. That's because, for many years, he rode with the Rancheros Visitadores in their annual trek in Santa Barbara County, starting in the 1930s. That's Merle on the right front, on what appears to be a buckskin pinto horse.


Merle Little's connection to the Rancheros Visitadores is such an important topic that I'll address it in a future blog post, with more photos. Come to think of it, his friendship with Montie Montana also deserves a blog post of its own.


UPDATE: Since I originally shared this post, the good folks at the  Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum & Carriage House have moved Merle's equipment so they're displayed together. Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit again soon.

___

Here's a link to the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Museum and Parks-Janeway Carriage House website. Check their opening hours before you plan your visit.

https://www.santaynezmuseum.org/


Merle's Morgan stallion Lippitt Morman was the inspiration for a ceramic Morgan stallion produced by the California pottery Hagen-Renaker, Inc., designed by Maureen Love. Here's my blog post on it:

https://modelhorsehistory.blogspot.com/2018/05/happy-birthday-lippitt-morman.html





 





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