Sculpture - Articulated Vienna Bronze - Jockey On Horse - Circa 1900

Articulated polychrome Vienna bronze, mounted jockey, ca. 1900
Mechanism-operated bronze depicting a mounted jockey. In original condition, with original patina.
An exceptionally rare, unrestored piece.

Attributed to Franz Xaver Bergmann.

Biography – Franz Xaver Bergmann (1861–1936)
Franz Bergmann was the owner of a Viennese foundry that produced numerous miniature sculptures of patinated bronze figures — oriental, erotic, and animal subjects, often fanciful, humorous, and humanized objets d’art.

His father came to Vienna and established a small bronze factory in 1860. Franz Xaver Bergmann inherited the business and opened a new foundry in 1900. Many bronzes of the 1900s were still based on designs from his father’s studio.

His workshops employed, on a temporary basis, many anonymous sculptors, including Bruno Zach, who asked Bergmann to edit and cast some of his works, including erotic pieces signed “Prof. Tuch”, a pseudonym used by Zach.

By the turn of the 19th century, about fifty similar workshops in Vienna were producing Viennese bronzes. Cold-painted bronze refers to pieces cast and then decorated in several layers with so-called dust paint, generally applied by women working at home.

The sensual poses of young women in the Art Nouveau or Oriental style were often discreetly disguised by clothing or drapes that could be revealed when a button was pushed or a lever moved. Many animals such as musician frogs, hares, bears, and foxes also made these factories famous.

Packaging and Delivery Costs

• Collection: Free

• Belgium: €15

• France: €25

• Europe: €30

• Rest of the world: €70