EUR
CAD
AUD
GBP
MXN
HKD
CNY
MYR
SEK
SGD
CHF
THBWilliam de la Montagne Cary (1840-1922), After the Buffalo Hunt
About Seller
20 Winter Street
Pembroke, MA 02359
United States
Founded in 2005, Copley Fine Art Auctions is a boutique auction house specializing in antique decoys and American, sporting, and wildlife paintings. Over the course of the last two decades, the firm has set auction records for not only individual decoy makers, but also entire carving regions. Copley...Read more
Live Auction in Progress ... Currently on Lot Two ways to bid:
- Leave a max absentee bid and the platform will bid on your behalf up to your maximum bid during the live auction.
- Bid live during the auction and your bids will be submitted real-time to the auctioneer.
Bid Increments
| Price | Bid Increment |
|---|---|
| $0 | $50 |
| $1,000 | $100 |
| $2,500 | $250 |
| $5,000 | $500 |
| $10,000 | $1,000 |
| $25,000 | $2,500 |
| $50,000 | $5,000 |
About Auction
LiveFeb 20, 2026
Lots 1-300 Copley Fine Art Auctions cinnie@copleyart.com
View Full Catalog (298)
- Lot Description
William de la Montagne Cary (1840-1922)
After the Buffalo Hunt
oil on canvas, 29 1/2 by 45 1/4 in.
A copy of a Letter of Authenticity from Gerald Peters Gallery accompanies the lot.
William Cary was born in 1840 in New York to an English architect father. As a young man, Cary apprenticed to an engraver after being noted for his creative talent. At age twenty-one, instead of going to study in Paris, he embarked on a grand adventure to the American West along with two friends. Cary sketched the whole way, and the group spent six weeks at Fort Union, located "on a vast buffalo trail running from northeast to southwest" at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers in Eastern Montana. Cary participated in at least two buffalo hunts in 1861 "at a time when the buffalo ruled the plains all along the upper river and the huge animals sometimes covered the plains as far as the eye could reach." After almost a year, Cary returned to New York via ship from San Francisco.
The May 16, 1874, issue of "Harper's Weekly" featured Cary's "Buffalo Hunt on the Missouri" as a full-page engraving. He returned to the West in the same year with a boundary survey party, and, for the remainder of his career, Cary made a good living as an illustrator and artist of the West. He exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1885, and had a solo exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in 1916, which was accompanied by an essay by George Bird Grinnell. Cary knew ornithologist Elliot Coues, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Theodore Roosevelt. He died in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1922. Today, his works can be found in the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Whitney Western Art Museum in Cody, Wyoming, the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, among others.
The composition of "After the Buffalo Hunt" echoes "Fording the Missouri" and "Buffalo Swimming the Missouri," which feature bison fording the river. In this work, a group of Native Americans celebrates and prepares after a successful buffalo hunt. The people wading in the water form a gentle S-curve in the wide river. Cary's painting adeptly captures the beautiful sunlight and abundant sky over the river and plains.
Provenance: Eldred's, July 20, 1995, lot 189
Private Collection
Robert S. Doochin Collection, acquired from Coeur d'Alene Art Auction, July 29, 2017, lot 187
Literature: Mildred Ladner, "William De la Montagne Cary: Artist on the Missouri River," Norman, OK: 1984, p. 47.Condition
Please email condition report requests to leah@copleyart.com.
- Shipping Info
-
Shipping info
Copley does not offer in-house packing or shipping. For clients who require shipping, please complete the Shipping Release Form and return it with your payment. The form includes a list of shippers we frequently work with.
-
- Buyer's Premium
