Featured in this lot is a signed original oil on board painting from Montana artist Bill Chapman, untitled, of a Western Mountain Man holding what appears to be a Hawken Rifle. The Hawken rifle is a muzzle-loading rifle that was widely used on the prairies and in the Rocky Mountains of the United States during the early frontier days. Developed in the 1820s, it became synonymous with the "plains rifle", the buffalo gun, and the fur trapper's gun. Hawken rifles had a reputation for both accuracy and long range. Wearing fringed buckskin boots and jacket, this Western hunter cradle holds his rifle as he scans the horizon looking for his next target. His appearance is lifelike, almost three-dimentional in the foreground, separate from the rust-coloured background which has the likeness of a Southwestern US rock wall. The painting is in good condition, some minor scuffing alongside the edges of the board, measures 26.5"H x 22"W