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Dee Flagg (1922 - 1999) - Wild Bill Hickok

Currency:USD Category:Western Americana / Art - Bronzes Start Price:8,000.00 USD Estimated At:15,000.00 - 20,000.00 USD
Dee Flagg (1922 - 1999) - Wild Bill Hickok
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Dee Flagg (1922 - 1999) - Wild Bill Hickok with trademark flowing locks and double holster rig. 77” tall.

One of six life-sized, folk art wood sculptures of Old West Legends, by 20th century master carver, Dee Flagg. Carved and painted hands and faces, dressed in period-appropriate western regalia. Rendered in intricate and exacting human detail, right down to the wrinkles and nose hair. Commissioned by the First National Bank of Arizona in the mid-1960s, they are quintessential Flagg on a monumental scale. Some minor scrapes and dings, with some fading and tearing to the costumes; in need of a little TLCto return them to their mid-century glory. (Guns are replicas.)

Dee Flagg began carving intricate figures and Old West scenes at age 5. The Flaggs were a family of artists in different genres, and Dee quickly became known for his exacting wood carvings, which he did entirely by hand. A showman with a handlebar mustache and an intentional resemblance to Buffalo Bill Cody, he worked for a time in the 1940s in Hollywood, setting up shop in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in his old red 1914 LaFrance fire engine, moving it forward each hour to avoid a ticket. A carved figure of Sitting Bull rode shotgun. Collectors of his work included William S. Hart, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and President Nixon. In Arizona – where he was easily recognized by his purple Rolls Royce – he was in high demand for commission work for corporate and municipal clients wanting large carved panel scenes and figures. A beloved artist in Arizona throughout the middle and late 20th century, he went on to become a historian and speaker in his later years. He carved, entirely by hand, until the end of his life.