Animals

Bear at ledge. This is likely the first object with what would become Petersen’s "chop mark" signature.

A pair of felines acquired for an entrance gate to the Charles J. Davol Estate in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. One has dead deer under paw.

Created on Public Works of Art Project in Iowa City, a preliminary model for a proposed bridgehead sculpture that was never commissioned. It depicts four buffalo running.

Cast, study for central fountain sculpture in Dairy Industry Building Courtyard. Three Jersey cows are bending their heads low to drink water while a bull stands and looks over their heads.

Doctor holding an injured or ill puppy, with mother dog sitting at the veterinarian’s feet and leaning against his knee.

Doctor holding an injured or ill puppy, with mother dog sitting at the veterinarian’s feet and leaning against his knee.

Doctor holding an injured or ill puppy, with mother dog sitting at the veterinarian’s feet and leaning against his knee.

Doctor holding an injured or ill puppy, with mother dog sitting at the veterinarian’s feet and leaning against his knee. The sculpture is widely accepted as the international symbol of veterinary medicine.

A spoof of a draft horse getting a pair of wings. Three limited edition bronzes of this sculpture were created and offered in 1984 on behalf of Charlotte Petersen by Pegasus Productions, the first of which was purchased by the Veterinary College, ISU.

The mural consists of forty–four blocks. It depicts the services the veterinary profession performs in conserving the life and health of domestic animals, thereby safeguarding the health of humans. Clay donated by the Fort Dodge Chamber of Commerce.

Petersen saw children on a mule after the 1938 flood in Kentucky. A bronze casting of this piece was created after Petersen’s death.

Demonstration sketch, probably done at the Iowa State Fair.

Figure of boy with calf. Commissioned along with Cornhusker by the Hotel Sheldon-Munn, Ames, IA.

The round plaque is designed with a center image of a woman who wears a long dress. Both arms are extended out and appear to rest on a ledge. There are smaller images along the edge and across the middle of the plaque.

Medal with the same image as the Iowa State College Alumni Medallion.

A bookend made as a Christmas gift for Mary Petersen, who wrote that the other bookend was destroyed in the firing process.

4-H boy with Jersey cows which was commissioned by an Iowa State College professor.

The artist’s daughter Helene’s dogs Micky and Laddy.

Model for cowboy was Dr. John J. Edenburn, DVM.

Cat with arched back.

Girl wears 1920s style short dress with bows at shoulders; holds puppy with both arms, head bent down slightly.

Painted after a print depicting two adult lions standing over a lion cub.

Bottom is a man fending off a dog or wolf, with a woman and a child crouched behind him; middle sketch is of man shooting bow and arrow with woman crouched behind him holding a child; top right is a sketch of a man with a shield and sword.

Study of a brown bear.

Several sketches of Polar Bears.

Two pencil studies of an animal skull, possibly for a medal or award called Steerhead for Balfour Jewelry.

Rough sketch of a horse running with a rider atop.

Sketch of a fireplace with mantel sculptures of cattle, figures and trees. Possibly for the Dairy Industry Building (now Food Sciences) interior 2nd floor.

Perspective study of courtyard and fountain concept with cattle. Mathematical figuring done in center of paper.

Study of windows with multiple panther and bear design on pediment.

Three studies of a cow standing and laying down.

Two studies of a cow’s head, a preliminary study for fountain figures.

Study of cows being milked by man and woman in foreground. Fireplace and mantle study with cow and milking in the the background.

Studies of sculptures with cows for a mantelpiece sculpture.

Men, women and cattle involved in dairying activities in a mural behind a central sculpture of a standing female holding a container out of which water pours.

Winged horse and rider, leaping at the edge of a cliff.

Studies of wall and installations.

Study of central panel, depicting three cows and a bull.

Study of a cow laying down in a center panel with three panels to side.

Study of cows and herdsmen. Possibly for the Dairy Industry Building (now Food Sciences) interior 2nd floor.

Study of a cow and people milking cows. Possibly for the Dairy Industry Building (now Food Sciences) interior 2nd floor.

Sketches of four fountains: cows, three figures, two figures. Bottom fountain alludes to "Reclining Nudes".

Recto (a): Top study is a horse, a cow, and a pig being restrained; bottom study is final concept for "Gentle Doctor". Verso (b): panel concepts of animals being treated by veterinarians.

Preparatory study of a man and a calf.

Three studies of animals being treated and examined.

A veterinarian restraining a calf.

Five pencil studies of men and cows.

Multiple studies of two men working on an calf.

Sketch of a buffalo in a circle and of a sow and piglets, likely for a medallion or medal design.

Final design for the figure of "The Gentle Doctor".

Five studies for "The Gentle Doctor".

Three-quarter view of the final design of "The Gentle Doctor".

Profile of mother dog.

Sketch of an octagonal fountain with two figures and one head of a pig.

Study of a Meskwaki family setting off on a hunting expedition. One horse is pulling a travois.

Study of a row of bison walking in a landscape.

Study of a row of buffaloes walking in knee-deep snow. Two large ones at front, others in the distance.

Study of a woman and girl on a rearing horse. The girl is looking back at her dropped doll which is on the ground behind the horse.

Study for the illustration of a woman and girl on a rearing horse. The girl is looking back at her dropped doll which is on the ground behind the horse.

Preparatory study of a rearing horse with two riders. Rough preparatory study for "Cha-Ki-Shi loses her doll".

Medallion circle with a man stabbing a dog/wolf, defending a woman crouched, holding a child. Concept for medallion.

Circle with a horse jumping out of a hexagon design in the center.

A twenty-page booklet with Motives by Mary, Words by Mommie, Drawings by Daddy. Includes fifteen illustrations of Mary at age three. Self-published in unknown quantity by the Petersen family for Christmas 1939.

The back of the artist’s wife seated with arm around their daughter who is turned playing with a cat. All are on a blanket.

Three studies, all are of Mary Petersen as a small child, after a bath, playing a toy piano, and with Petersen’s dog Tink. Two of them are in borders.

Sketches of two bears standing up. One sketch of bear on all four legs. Possibly in preparation for Yellowstone National Park bronze sculpture or commemorative spoon designs.

Four sketches including one of a man pouring from a long handled pan, others of men cutting grain and doing other farm work, and one of a bull with a farm hand.

Studies of a farmer, some tending to animals, some reading. In circular frames. Possibly a medallion design.

A farmer and a hog in circle frame, separate hog sketch. Possibly a medallion design.

Study of a farmer, pigs, outline of the State of Iowa with two pigs and an ear of corn within.

Studies of a cat, male figure, an ear of corn, and three arrows. The male figure in a raccoon skin cap could be based on "Pathfinder" a historical novel by American author James Fenimore Cooper, first published in 1840.

Study of a newborn calf.

Study of fountain with children. Central boy figure pulling a fish from the pool.

Several sketches of standing students with graduation caps and gowns, and a farmer holding a calf. A concept for campus entrance.

Five studies for monumental sculptural markers. One is a woman and the others are groups. Concepts for Campus Entry and "Conversations".

Study of a group of people in three circles and one unrelated with a rectangular frame and children surrounding a seated figure.

Two men working at unloading grain or hay into farm machinery from wagons which have horses hitched to them. Barn and windmill center right, corn in background left center. Fence across lower right and center section.

Long range perspective sketch of a farmer and his wife looking over their land. Cattle in fields and fence along road. Barn and windmill in background.

Sketches of a sculpture of a girl playing with a dog.

Three sketches of two figures on bases. In all of them, a man is helping a young girl with a sick pet. There is also a small sketch of a plant at the center of the three groupings.

Central smokestack flanked by metal and wood buildings. Pigs in the foreground.

Study of cowboy and cattle. Model was John Edenburn, DVM.

This drawing is of Mary Petersen’s cat which was given the name Fancy because of a little V-shaped mark on its right ear.

Head and shoulders of a dog, maybe a German Shepherd.

Five whimsical sketches, two men with a bug on one man’s nose, in profile and a front view with a man in a corner. One sketch of the Holy Family with Mary and Jesus on a donkey.

Five sketches of religious figures, one of a wall with eagle.

Sketches of dogs and a pig.

Cartoon sketches of Charlotte seated in a chair watching a cat lick milk from a dish.

Cartoon sketch of Charlotte lying on a couch while the dog watches her.

Eleven detailed sketches of a primitive man, buffalo, wolf, cat, study of hands, and mother nursing child.

Sketch of clustered figures with animals. Possibly a study for the Veterinary Medicine Mural.

Horse in profile. It seems to have come to a sudden stop or be backing away from something.

Four sketches of a cat, related to sculpture "Cat".

Sketches (small at top, large at bottom) of a horse running.

Sketch of woman with upraised arm releasing a bird, child at her side.

Fountain and reflecting pool. Cast by T.F. McGann & Sons, Boston, MA.

Special Collections in the Iowa State University Library, ISU, has a photograph of this approximately life-size nativity scene that was erected on campus at Christmas. It included a kneeling Mary, standing Joseph, an infant Jesus in a wooden manger, and relief murals of…

One piece depicts Mary Petersen, the artist’s daughter, holding her rag doll in dejection and the other depicts her playmate–a neighborhood boy–holding his new puppy after bragging about it and telling her, You can’t play with it. Five plaster castings sold at the 1964…

Cast reproduction of the original. Cast by Paul Shao.

From 1960 until 1980, the Iowa State Veterinary College sold 18-inch plaster castings of "The Gentle Doctor" as a fundraiser for the Christian Petersen Scholarship Fund, with royalties to Charlotte Petersen for every piece purchased. Her husband had created the piece for his…

Three casts made of a 1938 Petersen spoof of a draft horse getting a pair of wings. Casting done by George-Ann Neudeck Tognoni, a student of Christian Petersen’s in the 1940s. The reproductions were produced by Pegasus Productions, through royalty arrangements with…

Thirty-six pairs of castings of the originals were done by Pegasus Productions in 1986, by royalty arrangement with Charlotte and Mary Petersen.

Bas relief, one fallen WWI solider on the ground, the other solider stands over him with bayoneted gun and hand outstretched above to flying eagle.

Preliminary model for large-scale "Veterinary Medicine Mural".

Bronze cast from 1941 original painted plaster. Casts by Polich Art Works, Rock Tavern, New York.

Bronze cast from 1936 original painted plaster. Casts by Polich Art Works, Rock Tavern, New York.

Yellowstone Park with a bear facing front on hind legs image on top. The bear design was also used on spoons for Yosemite National Park. Spoon designed by George Nerney and die-cut by Petersen for the Robbins Company, Attleboro, MA.

Yosemite Park with a bear facing front on hind legs image on top. The bear design was also used on spoons for Yellowstone Park. Child’s spoon designed by George Nerney and die-cut by Petersen for the Robbins Company, Attleboro, MA.

The round plaque mold is designed with a center image of a woman who wears a long dress. Both arms are extended out and appear to rest on a ledge. There are smaller images along the edge and across the middle of the plaque. The plaster is painted, the mold is unpainted…

Statue of two bear cubs standing erect near log. For Chas. M. Robbins Co., Attleboro, MA. This relates to the Yellowstone spoon design.

A roundel of a farmer in front of a hog feeder caring a suspended sack between two poles. Two women in foreground - one picking corn and the other haling a jug. Five pigs are at the farmer’s feet, possibly of the Chester White variety or a crossbred.

Petersen saw children on a mule after the 1938 flood in Kentucky. A posthumous bronze casting of this piece was created in 1969 after Petersen’s death. This mold is from that casting process.

Scared cat with separate mouse. May be related to cat drawings CPC #906 and "Cat" sculpture CPC #406, also known as "Fancy".

Horse with head bent, rider with head bent on rough base. Similar to "End of the Trail" by James Earl Frasier.

Cub standing erect on a stump. Copyrighted June 29, 1912 for Chas. M. Robbins Co., Attleboro, MA.

Souvenir spoon for Yellowstone National Park. Designed by Christian Petersen. Pierced design features twin bear cubs standing on their hind legs looking right. Spoon manufactured by the Chas. M. Robbins Co., Attleboro, MA. Marked sterling.

Sculptural relief depicting a figure and two oxen pulling a covered wagon across a prairie. Plow handles are visible protruding from the back of the wagon. Above the low relief of a covered wagon crossing a prairie. Dedicated June 18, 1928.

Lecture for the American Art Pottery Association Conference by Dr. Lea Rosson DeLong on April 26, 2018 at Iowa State University.