Frederic Remington captured the spirit of the American West, first as an illustrator, then later as a sculptor. With inspiration drawn from his father's experiences in the Civil War, along with his own time spent in the West and a limited art education at Yale and the Art Students League, he produced 22 powerful bronze sculptures.
Remington's first four bronzes were cast between 1895 and 1900 at Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co. in New York. After that, he switched to the Roman Bronze Works foundry. Reproductions of Remington bronzes became legal in the 1960s when their copyrights expired. Unfortunately, this created a boom of copies, and many of the reproductions are not marked as such. However, until 1918, Frederic's widow did authorize casts to be made, though they are far outnumbered by fakes, fantasies and reproductions.
According to the Frederic Remington Art Museum, the least expensive authentic Remington bronze may sell for around $75,000. Some originals are valued at over $1 million. This points to the fact that if a deal on an "original" Remington seems too good to be true, it probably is. Although a real Remington should have documentation going back through all the years of its existence, paperwork can be faked, so you need an evaluation from an expert or art historian knowledgeable in Remington's works. But there are several ways to check for a fake, fantasy or reproduction before involving the pros.
Unauthorized Remington reproductions date as far back as the 1920s, so age and patina alone are not definitive of a true Remington. Fortunately, there are a number of other ways to detect a fake Remington. First, Remington sculptures are specific sizes, so if you see a piece offered in a range of sizes, they're reproductions. Second, authentic Remingtons never had marble bases - fakes and reproductions are sometimes attached to a marble or marble-looking base to hide modern construction, Chinese characters, or other visual giveaways. You may also see felt or some type of padding lining the bottom of the piece, whether on an added base or not, which is also put there to conceal the previously mentioned types of visual giveaways.
Many old and modern fakes and copies are bronze-plated cast-iron or other heavy metal; check for any signs of rust and use a magnet, which would not stick to bronze. Also look for spots with dripping or missing "patina" - real patina does not run or come off in patches, but this can happen with fake patinas that are created by applying stains or paints.
Details count in Remington bronzes. On fakes and unauthorized reproductions, especially those made overseas, features like hair, eyes, hands, animal fur and the like can often be misshapen or unrealistic. Also check carefully for incorrect spellings, like "Frederick" (with the "k"), a missing letter in the first or last name, etc.
As mentioned earlier, Frederic Remington used two foundries to create his sculptures: Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co. and Roman Bronze Works. This is important to know because all of Remington's original sculptures have the foundry mark permanently on them. There are two additional things to check out regarding these foundry marks: the type of casting and the Henry-Bonnard name. Roman Bronze Works made lost wax castings, so their name would only be on this type of sculpture; on the other hand, Henry-Bonnard made sand castings. If either name is on a different type of bronze, it's a fake. Going one step further, there's a big difference between Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co. and Henry Bonnard Bronze Inc. The latter, without the hyphen and using the word "Inc." instead of "Co.," was a contemporary company that deliberately misrepresented bronzes as originals, even going so far as to provide fake documentation and appraisals. The owner was eventually convicted of racketeering and served a prison sentence as well as paid high fines, but many of those fake bronzes, appraisals and documentation with the deceptive foundry name are still out there.
Reproductions not intended to deceive will typically include the name of the company selling it - this is the case with Remington reproductions sold by the Frederic Remington Art Museum. Their high-quality reproductions are on marble bases bearing name plates (never used on originals) that feature, among other information, the museum's name.
There are plenty of fantasy "Remington" pieces too, which Frederic Remington never made or even imagined. More contemporary fantasy pieces carry names like "Double Trouble," "The Warrior," and "The Scout," among others. In fact, all the way back to 1911, Eva Remington wrote in her diary about bronzes titled "Indian Dancer" (the original of this name was made by artist Karl Kauba) being attributed to her husband that she believed were "probably done abroad and signed with Frederic's name." This illustrates that just because a bronze looks old or has age patina (or is heavy or sounds "right" when tapped) doesn't mean it's a real Remington.

Photo via Wikipedia.

At A Glance:
Signs of a fake or reproduction:
1. Chipped "patina."
2. Marble base or name plate.
3. Base liner.
4. Presentation or dedication inscriptions.
5. Wrong size.
6. Misspelled name.

Reference books, websites and collecting groups are the best ways to keep from being fooled by fakes. Here are a few: “Cast and Recast: The Sculpture of Frederic Remington” by Michael Shapiro and “Icons of the West: Frederic Remington's Sculpture” by Michael D. Greenbaum.