Superior.

Rinehart, Little Bear, 1899

American sculptors travel thousands of miles to study Greek Statues in the Vatican in Rome, seemingly unaware that in their own country there exists a race of men equal in form and grace (if not superior) to the finest beau ideal ever dreamed of by the Greeks.  And it does seem a little extraordinary that up to this time (as far as I am aware) not a single sculptor has thought it worth his while to make a journey among these Indians, who are now sojourning on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, and are rapidly passing away.  Most unquestionably, that sculptor who travels here, -- and models from what he sees (supposing him to have equal power and genius), will far excel any other who merely depends on his own conception of what it ought to be.

Alfred Jacob Miller, The West