13 January 2016

Sir Samelot by unknown artist

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He stands guard over Uptown with his trusty steed. He is... Sir Samelot! Head for the intersection of Tustin St and Seneca St and you'll find him there - often decorated to suit the season or holiday. This statue was discovered at an antiques store in Duncansville, Pa by local Uptown resident Sam Kiss, who had it brought here and installed in the fall of 2011. Rick Sebak (of The Pittsburgh History Series on WQED) writes about it in Pittsburgh Magazine

In Summer we found Triggeramus carrying a basket of flowers.

In October both knight and horse were ready for Halloween.

Wearing scream mask. 5 pumpkins skewered on his sword.

Same as above, but at night.

Christmas time and they're decked out in their holiday best.

Horse has red leg warmers and garland draped around him.

Sir Samelot has a friend to celebrate St Patrick’s Day with!

With green hat, mannequin in shamrock tights and green outfit

Red, White & Blue bunting and a flag on the shield.
A patriotic Sir Samelot for the 4th of July.

17 Oct 2013: Today we stopped by to see if Sir Samelot was ready for Halloween. To our surprise and pleasure, we finally met the owner of this sculpture. Mr Kiss and his friend were just adding the pumpkin head decoration and they were kind enough to spend some time telling us what they knew about Sir Samelot.


Halloween 2013

From what they know, there are only two of these in existence. The other is in the Philadelphia area and they believe it’s also privately owned. They have no confirmation of the origin or artist, but they think the design is possibly Greco–Roman. They’ve identified the style of Sir Samelot’s cape and shin guards as Roman.


Sir Samelot, Triggeramus, and owner Sam Kiss.

They believe the scrolling around the shield is a Greco–Roman design, and that the wheat represents fertility or prosperity and the wings are for victory in battle.


Close up of the shield.

Triggeramus is the name of the trusty steed, and they think the cross–like markings on him are battle scars. In the photo below you can see a large metal screw, and in other places there are bolts. The sculpture is actually done in four pieces.


Close up of battle scars on Triggeramus.

Mr Kiss is planning to have the sculpture sandblasted and restored to stop rust from destroying it. He’s also considering raising it onto a higher platform.

The turkey is skewered for Thanksgiving 2013:

Christmas 2013:

In 2014 the lot where this sculpture rests was put up for sale. We spoke with Mr Kiss and he was considering selling Sir Samelot. In 2015 the sculpture was still there, but we don't know how long it will remain there.

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