Austrian cold painted bronzes became a specialty product of Vienna artisans around the turn of the 20th century. These sculptures, often in miniature included animalier, whimsical and Eastern themes and occasionally erotica, they were hand made and hand painted high status objet d’art and have remained highly sought after ever since. Although around 50 individual factories were in production in Vienna at the height of the industry, the market leader and often considered the finest craftsman was Franz Xavier Bergman, his sculptures were deceptively realistically and usually bear his monogram. Many Bergman pieces feature in our July sale including lot 810 ‘Cleopatra’ a rare Bergman erotic subject, which is signed ‘Nam Greb’ (Bergman in reverse) a secret device he used to distinguish his erotica from his more pedestrian subject matter!
The collection featuring in our July sale totals around two dozen sculptures and was amassed by a private collector over the past two decades, highlights include lot 804, a life size Bergman study of a woodcock, guided at £1500-2500 and 815 a cold painted bronze lamp by Bergman in the form of an Arabian tent, which is estimated at £2000-3000. The menagerie of subjects is beguiling and rarely is a collection of this breadth and quality seen at auction.
