Antique JW Fiske Cast Iron FAITHFUL GROOMSMAN Hitching Post lawn architecture

Description

These are getting rarer and rarer to find and own.  Here is a wonderful, original, 1890s cast iron lawn jockey. We have had it for nearly a quarter-century.  We purchased it from a gentleman in California.  His father was an architect and was doing some work for a wealthy family in Santa Barbara in the 1930s.  During the renovation of the mansion, the architect removed and added certain features.  This lawn jockey and some pillars were removed and eventually purchased from the estate.  The architect’s family kept them until we purchased from them so many years ago.  We have recently moved and are now offering it to another family.  This is a no-return sale.  Photos describe best.
I do not notice a maker’s mark, but this statue is very typical of the JW Fiske foundry in New York.  This statue is very heavy and measures about 45” tall.  The cotton bale on which the man stands is about 14.5” square.  I believe this is the original paint, except for the eyes, which my daughter repainted about a dozen years ago.
This item will obviously need to be transported via freight, and I will certainly help the buyer with this process. I have spoken to a student who has carpentry skills that will build a wood crate on a pallet for shipping this item for a cost of 0 to the buyer. This crate cost will be on top of the actual shipping charges.
Here is a bit of history on the original lawn jockey statues:
A
lawn jockey
is a small statue of a man intended to be placed in
front yards
as
hitching posts
, similar to those of
footmen
bearing lanterns near entrances. The
lawn ornament
was generally  depicting a man holding up one hand as though taking the reins of a horse.
Originally, this statue was a welcoming symbol to guests and provided to those on horseback a practical and novel hitching post.
The Lawn Jockey makes history come alive with legends of tours of duty in the revolutionary war and civil war. Like a time machine, the cultural significance of this unique statue has touched many areas of society in important ways and is still evolving hundreds of years after the statue first appeared.