The Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine has recently learned one of its statues on display is more than just a bronze horse— it’s a rare piece of art.
Since 2010, a blue-green bronze statue of Obusier - a champion stallion imported from France in 1938 - has been on display in the reception area of the Large Animal Clinic of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Standing at 29 inches high and 28 inches long, it's one-fourth the size of the horse that inspired its creation.
A casting of the original created by noted sculptor Avard T. Fairbanks in 1939, the statue at MSU was from one of just two additional castings made after 1947.
According to an extensive report compiled in 2008 by art appraiser Lawrence Jeppson, the original bronze casting – the first from the model – has disappeared. A second casting made at the time also has disappeared. It is possible that only one casting was made, Jeppson reported.
The statue was donated to the MSU CVM by Fairbanks' son, Grant, in 2010. It's one of two of Fairbanks' works owned by MSU CVM. The other, Colt Pegasus, originally cast for the Dodge family of automobile fame, was donated to MSU CVM in 2006.
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