The Boy Scout, (sculpture).

The Boy Scout, (sculpture).

McKenzie, R. Tait, 1867-1938, sculptor.

The Boy Scout, (sculpture).

Ideal Boy Scout, (sculpture).

Original cast 1937. Dedicated 1980.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: bronze; Base: brick.

Sculpture: approx. H. 6 ft. 2 in.; Base: approx. 5 in. x 3 ft. 2 in. x 3 ft. 2 in.

(On self base:) R. Tait McKenzie 1937 (On plaque on base:) The Volunteer Leaders of the Wolverine Council/dedicate this statue in tribute to the/Professional Career Executives of the/Boy Scouts of America./Their dedication to the principles of Scouting/influence the lives of countless American youth./Dr. R. Tait McKenzie Sculptor-1937 signed

Standing figure of a Boy Scout in uniform, including scarf, shorts, knee socks and hiking boots. He holds his hat to his chest with his proper right hand. His proper left hand is on a hatchet which hangs from a tool belt on his hip. The sculpture stands on a low rectangular base.

Figure male -- Child -- Full length

Dress -- Uniform -- Scout Uniform

Occupation -- Service -- Scouting

Object -- Tool -- Axe

Outdoor Sculpture -- Michigan -- Ann Arbor

Boy Scouts of America, 1719 Huron Parkway, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106

This work has been duplicated for more than thirty Boy Scout Council facilities across the country. The sculpture was originally created as a statuette in 1914 at the suggestion of Dr. Charles D. Hart, then president of the Philadelphia Council. Dr. McKenzie, also a Council member, presented the statuette and its copyright to the Philadelphia Council Executive Board on March 10, 1915. An updated, life-sized version which sold for $5,000 was created in 1937 for the opening of the Philadelphia Council's new headquarters building (IAS record 88320102). A total of five Boy Scouts posed for the statue between 1914 and 1937, and the final statue is a composite of its models. IAS files contain an excerpt from Scout Memorabilia, n.d., detailing history of Tait's Scout statues and related unpublished essay by Turner Moon.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Michigan survey, 1993.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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