Vienna Bronze Seated Woman By Franz Xavier Bergmann (1861-1936)

A cold-painted bronze figure from Vienna, dating from the late 19th century, depicting a young Arab fruit seller seated, wearing a long dress and headscarf. The bronze features very fine hand-chiseled surface details and good natural color. It is signed with the Bergman 'B' within an amphora-shaped vase and inscribed "Geschutzt" (patent). The paint is slightly worn in places.
Franz Xavier Bergman (or Franz Xavier Bergmann) (1861-1936) owned a Viennese foundry that produced various Oriental, erotic, and animal figures. His father, Franz Bergmann (1838-1894), was a professional engraver from Gablonz who settled in Vienna. He established a small bronze factory in 1860. After his son, Franz Xaver Bergmann, inherited the business, a new foundry was established in 1900. Many bronzes, however, were still based on models from his father's workshop. Bergmann's workshops employed numerous sculptors, including Bruno Zach. At the turn of the 19th century, there were around fifty workshops producing Viennese bronzes. The Bergmann foundry closed in 1930 due to the Great Depression. It was reopened a few years later by Robert Bergmann, Franz's son, and operated until his death in 1954, when the remaining stock and molds were sold to Karl Fuhrmann & Co. He also signed his works with a pseudonym, "NamGreb," an anagram of Bergman (spelled backwards).