History of the Lawn Jockey Statue jocko graves faithful …

In this section we will discuss the origins of the 3 versions of the great American Lawn Jockey sculpture in the specific time frame of 1776-1913. There are 2 distinct historical time frames associated with this statue: 1. 1776-1913: Original versions manufactured of SOLID iron or zinc and weighing approximately 300-400 lbs. designed for FUNCTIONAL use(tying up horses). 2. 1913-present: Reproductions of the statue manufactured of HOLLOW iron(about 150 lbs.), concrete, plastic, or aluminum designed for DECORATIVE use.

Imagine travelling back in time to 1872... clipclopping along the cobblestone road and slowly passing by the gas lights, and then stopping off your horse drawn carriage at the Composite Iron Works, 9 Mercer St., New York City... to pick out a hitching post!

Documented history on the Lawn Jockey is solid back to the 1850's, but prior history is based on putting pieces of a puzzle together through eyewitness accounts, legend, and speculation. The trail of puzzle pieces traces the history of the Lawn Jockey back through the civil war in the 1860's to the Underground Railroad in the 1850's, and all the way back to George Washington in 1776. But to truly understand the origins of the Lawn Jockey statue, you must first turn the time machine clock back further still, way back to 500 bc in ancient Greece where the public display of the human form in sculpture was perfected.

In 500 bc, the ancient greek sculptors perfected statues of the human form... clothing on sculpture is used to convey social structure. The jockey's timeless design was borrowed from ancient Greece and reinvented in colonial America.

Many copies of this popular design were made all the way through the end of the Roman Empire in 476ad. Note how all had bare feet and had their right arm extended to hold horses reins just like the original jockeys.

Apollo was also linked with oracles associated with wishing to know the outcome of an illness. Healing belonged to Apollo's realm: he was the father of Asclepius, the god of medicine.

2 milleniums later, the American Red Cross was established in the US. Coincidentally, a red jockey looks like a red cross. Many doctors who made house calls by horsedrawn carriage in the 1800's had red jockey hitching posts at their own homes to identify their profession. The unusual huge popularity of jockeys in the medical community still continues today in the tradition of Apollo and the Red Cross.

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History of the Lawn Jockey Statue jocko graves faithful ...