James Bruce’s 1981 Pronghorn engraving
Kristine Watson was nice enough to share these photos of her collection of James L. Bruce’s engravings. She mentioned she was a personal friend of the artist and believes she has the largest collection of his “Living Mirrors”.
I wasn’t familiar with the artist so she was willing to do this post as a tribute to James Bruce and his spectacular work.
Check out his work by clicking on the photos to see an enlarged version.
Bruce seemed to have an interesting artistic engraving method which Kristine explains below:
All etching is individual cuts on the back side through plating, he designed all of his own tools, I believe they were something like dental implements. No sand blasting, different effects achieved through depth of cut. He did the work in reverse laying on his back with a system of mirrors reflecting off the work surface. Photos have not been altered, they are in color taken through time laps and no flash.
NOTE: Plating process on these old mirrors is no longer available in the United States due to EPA standards. A few of the mirrors have copper plating which produces a beautiful copper patina effect in the piece. All mirrors are a minimum of 5/16″ thick.
Kristine also wrote the below bio of Jim Bruce and his techniques used, which was submitted for his nomination into the Calico Character Hall of Fame.
Picture of Jim Bruce with one of his horses
2012 CALICO CHARACTER HALL OF FAME NOMINATION
I wish to nominate the late James L. Bruce, who was the owner of Calico’s Living Mirrors many years ago. His unique style of art brought people from all over the world to see and purchase his living mirrors. This style of art, which he created and designed his own tools to etch with, has been sent all around the world and to this day, there is no other artist in the world that has been able to capture this distinctive style. Each mirror is engraved from the back side in reverse, with some mirrors having more than 20,000 individual cuts at different depths and through various layers of plating to achieve varied effects and shading to produce life-like images. He arrived at Calico sometime in the early 1970’s and did most of his art work in Calico between the years of 1973 to 1979. He was the son of the last territorial Marshal who rode the range of San Bernardino County and he truly lived the life he depicted in his artwork. His one-of-a- kind mirror engravings portrayed typical western scenes with prairies, cowboys, Native Americans, hitch drawn buggies, territorial marshals and assorted livestock. Many large corporations hired him to create large mural type art pieces for their headquarters which included such major companies as NASA, Universal Studios and Santa Fe Railroad. The Steak Eaters, which was a popular steakhouse in Barstow, featured his art in their dining room and when they closed down, they sold their entire collection to Roger & Kris Watson, who were very good friends with Jim.Jim Lived in Calico for a time, in Hank’s Hotel. He loved Calico, the towns’ people and the many tourists that would stop by his shop to view his mirrored art and purchase one to take home with them. Many people around Barstow have his mirrors hanging in their homes and I am sure that every time they look at them, they think fondly of Calico Ghost Town and the artist Jim Bruce. Jim had received permission from San Bernardino County to be buried in the Boot Hill Cemetery when he passed and that is where he rests today; a fitting place for this Calico Artist, who helped to make the West come alive in his one of a kind “Living Mirrors.”
Here are quite a few of his other engravings that she owns. Kristine’s collection is going up for sale. If you are interested in purchasing any of these, you may contact her by emailing at imperialimage@earthlink.net.
1973 Fall
1973 Diablo
1973 Spring Fever
1973 Piute Boy
1973 Through the Reef
1973 Rodeo
1974 Night Trail
1974 The Last Hunt
1980 Man from Buena Vista
1982 The Hunter
1984 The NightHawks
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Talent abounds……
What wounderful work and talent, to be able to to convey from mind or sight to our work slate is a fundamental we all try to achieve in any of out work, the above pictures are point on, nothing was missed and everything in the pictures is there, i can only hope that i will achieve this level of detail and prospective. Wounderful work.
wow those are awesome. I do very small scale items but love seeing other work..
Beautiful!! Thank you for sharing
Wow is all I can say. Very talented
They are awesome. Thank you for sharing.
Some amazing work. I always life seeing what other artists are able to do with their media. Most of my work is in Judaica, but having originally come from South Africa I still put my hand to an occasional animal engraving.
The truth is that it is a work of art at the top of creativity. I hope to learn a little from this experience thank you
Too bad he is gone, he was very talented.
Selling most of the collection, only keeping a couple pieces. We are moving and need to liquidate. Please contact me immediately if you wish to purchase one of these mirrors.
Kristine… How much for The Rodeo?… I have a clear image of seeing that particular one in his store, shortly after he made it.
All moved….. Keeping “Piute Boy” and “Man From Buena Vista”.
Sold “Diablo” and “The Nighthawks”.
If anyone is interested in any of the other pieces, please contact me.
Hi Kristine,
Do you know how to change bulb? It is sealed in ours.
Found this a bit late in the year ! So happy to finally see some works from “The Western Artist” was special living next door to him in Bartsow for some time. I wish I spent more time with him.
I have “The Marshall” and am thrilled to finally learn about this artist. I was curious as to where he Mr. Bruce was located. Did he have a store?
The one that i have has different stories as to how it was acquired and made its way here to Arkansas. Any information is appreciated.
Please post a picture…. we have been done ordering for here that mirror went. If it’s the one I think it is…. there is a definite story
Didn’t notice all the errors in the above……………It should say…..
Please post a picture of “The Marshal”…. we have been wondering for years where that mirror went. If it’s the one I think it is…. there is a definite story that goes with it. How did you acquire it? When?
I have an etched lighted framed mirror with a deer in the forest. Its been in my family for many years. the bottom of the picture has James L Bruce 1984 etched in it and was wondering if this could be one of your pictures. when you plug it in the mirror lights up from the back and show a beautiful picture of a deer. please e-mail me if this could possibly be your art. I would send a picture of it but on way to post.
Thank you for sharing these images of Mr Bruce’s work! We own 2 of his Beautiful mirrors. One is actually of my husband, Jay, when he was around 2 years old and the other is named Old Way Station Well No 5
Hello,I have one I bought at an Estate Sale years ago.It is dated 1968 and signed James L. Bruce.No title name to it but has a Cowboy on horse roping a calf.Any idea if this is one of his first mirrors.Thanks
I have never seen a piece of his artwork from that year….. it could very well be one of his first pieces. Can you post a picture?
Hello Kristine,I don’t see any way of posting a picture to this site.Any way to email or text you a picture.I have always been fascinated with this picture and would love some information on it.
Feel Free to send the photo to my email….. imperialimage@earthlink.net
Doug, I would love to see the picture and show it on the blog also. You can email me or upload it here: https://www.glassetchingsecrets.com/submit/submit-etching.php
Thanks!
Good idea Eric
Thanks Doug, this is now posted here: https://www.glassetchingsecrets.com/1968-james-l-bruce-engraved-mirror-cowboy-on-horse-in-valley/
Kristine or anyone, please feel free to post your thoughts on this there. 🙂
The problem is that he is one of these artists where information is very difficult to come by. What I found is that he also did mirrors for the MGM in Las Vegas. I am not sure but I think they were nudes, hung over the bars.
In the April 4, 1974 edition of The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California on page Page 112 there is an article about home.
That’s all I know.
He also did mirrors for movie studios, a huge commission of the starship Enterprise, and Santa Fe rail road
When I first searched for James Bruce, I came upon someone who had a coffee table looking for information about it. I wanted to mention while visiting him in Barstow, he had a picture of a famous cowboy star on horse. I easily recognized him from my childhood western memories. He said it was a friend and often rode horses together. Another Hollywood connection. Could have been Willian Cody, Rod Cameron, or Randolf Scott. I lived next door to James for a year or so.
I too heard the story about mirrors in Vegas, but I never know where in Vegas.
I knew James, I use to visit with him at his home on Williams st barstow . I got to watch him work on his mirrors he was amazing, he also etch a few cocktail glasses for me with a western scene. He signed his work for me , I feel very lucky to have met him. 70s
Tony chavira
I also have one that was in a storage unit that went up for auction in Las Vegas. It is an image of some horses grazing in a mountain valley. Only his name and a date of 1969 is on the glass. I do not know how to upload an image of it to this site.
I have a rather large one titled “Stage to the Panamint Valley” that he did in 1974. I am curious how much these are worth and what size these are that are pictured on this page. Mine is framed and backlit and measures 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide.
I have a Bruce piece it is a lighted mirror very heavy.It is of a colt titled Rebel. Looking to sell it not my thing. I can text or email pics
Does anyone know about his Starship Enterprise Etching in 1982
The person who owns it (anonymous) would like to sell it possibly
I can provide pictures and measurements
I am planning to sell a mirror called “Little Jack.” It was purchased for $325 in 1974 from James L. Bruce in Calico. The certificate is framed. Size is 22″x 28.” It is a donkey in the desert that has scary looking teeth. What would be the value?
James L. Bruce was a personal friend of mine when he lived in Barstow, Ca. and Las Vegas, Nv. I purchased one of his western themed engravings ” Sioux Camp ” circa 1980. I had the the privilige to see several engravings he made for NASA before they were sent to Houston, Tx. He was in the process of making an engraving of my three children before passing away. Never completed it. To This day I have no idea what happened to the unfinished mirror. During the course of our friendship he introduced my family and I to his close friend, actor Myron Healy, whom he met while living in the Los Aneles/ Hollywood area. Jim mentioned that he had made engravings for several celebrities, including Johnny Cash and President Eisenhower’s wife Mamie. Jim was an occaisional dinner guest in my home in Barstow and when I visited him in Las Vegas. My family and I attended his funeral on ” Boot Hill Cemetary in Calico, Ca.
If anyone is interested in possibly selling any of James L Bruce artwork we might be interested in saving Bruce’s artwork. My husband sold his artwork in the 80’s up at Calico Ghost town from the R and D Company Store.