Measures nearly 10½" long and 7½ " tall; weighs an impressive 5.5 lb. The iconic Red Army cavalryman is portrayed in a dashing headlong charge. The movement is nicely underscored by the wind-swept grass on the base of the statue. During WW1, Vasily Chapayev (aka Chapaev) he had been an Infantry NCO where he proved himself an exemplary soldier, earning four St. George crosses and the title of Cavalier of the Order of St. George. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1917. He was elected commander of the Red Army's 25th Infantry Division and was instrumental in defeating Alexander Kolchak's White forces in the summer of 1919. On the night of 5 September, his headquarters was attacked by a White Cossack Corps and Chapayev was killed in action, reportedly drowned while retreating across the Ural River under machinegun fire. His body was never found.

Although he was eulogized by the Soviet authorities after his death, it was a novel and movie that propelled Chapayev into the stratosphere of Soviet historical fame. In 1923, Dmitry Furmanov, Chapayev's Commissar, published a somewhat fictionalized memoir about Chapayev which became a best seller, spawning memorabilia, a hugely popular 1934 action film (allegedly one of Stalin's favorite movies) and even a genre of sarcastic jokes which are still circulating in post-Soviet Russia. Although factual accounts of Chapayev are few, Soviet propaganda depicted him as an unruly cowboy, which appealed to many people as an antidote to the dreariness of Soviet life.

Please note, pen in our photo is for size reference.
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