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Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs

Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs
Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs

Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs

Wonderful bookends depicting a charging buffalo. These guys are rare, OLD, and bear the scars to prove it. Bronze-clad, a manufacturing process by which a skin of bronze (I think copper, in this case) was deposited on a plaster form through electro-plating. A handful of companies used this method in the early 1900s to make decorative household objects that had the look, feel, and heft of solid bronze yet were affordable by the middle class.

I'm pretty sure these are by Kathodian Bronze Works (KBW) which operated in NYC in the 19-teens (and went out of business during WWI). No maker's mark which I find puzzling, as every other KBW set I've owned did have their mark, but this is the exact design as shown in an original KBW catalogue (see last pic). Interesting to me that the catalogue image shows the beasts holding up books with their shaggy heads, and not their sides. [Interesting, also, that KBW called them "book rocks" rather than book'ends']. Disregard the penciled notation of "krupka, " I believe it is erroneous. Yes, Krupka did create a buffalo design for bookends, but it had a different appearance and was produced by Armor Bronze. Pompeian Bronze offered several versions but theirs were designed by Paul Herzel.

And my Galvano Bronze catalogue reprint includes no buffalo figures at all. And these surely look old enough to have been around over 100 years. No particular issues in damage to cladding, or portions of the design being bent or mashed, but there surely are a number of instances of verdigris, dings, small chips, discoloration, abrasion, etc scattered over each piece. But they all lend character, right?

Finish is old and weary but mostly intact. Both pieces sit flat and stable. These are hefty: 6 1/4 inches tall; base is 7 1/4 inches long, with his head sticking out another 1 1/2 inches; 2 3/4 inches wide. And heavy at 3 3/4 pounds EACH PIECE. Perfect gift for the retired buffalo hunter in your family tree.

The item "Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs" is in sale since Sunday, October 4, 2020. This item is in the category "Collectibles\Decorative Collectibles\Book Ends". The seller is "joncris4q8" and is located in Glastonbury, Connecticut. This item can be shipped to United States.

  • Handmade: No
  • Modified Item: No
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Featured Refinements: Bronze-clad Bookend


Antique buffalo bison Western bookends KBW Kathodian Bronze clad, 1915, 7 lbs