A very fine early 20th Century cold painted Austrian bronze figure of a feeding turkey. This bronze study has excellent naturalistic colour and very fine hand finished detail,  signed with the Bergman 'B' in an amphora vase, stamped Geschutzt and numbered 1060.

Height:  4 cm - Length: 10 cm - Circa: 1910

SKU:                                            8755

Franz Bergman Sculptures

Bergman bird– Celebrated for his great attention to detail and wonderful vibrant colours, Franz Xavier Bergman (1861-1936) is, arguably, the most famous of the Viennese cold-painted bronze artists, delighting in producing Oriental and animal subjects, including the Bergman cat, rabbits, foxes and horses.

His father, also Franz Bergman (1838–1894), was a professional chaser (embosser) from Gablonz, Austria who came to Vienna and founded a small bronze factory in 1860. Franz Xavier inherited the company and opened a new foundry in 1900. There he created numerous cold painted (so named because the numerous layers of polychrome paint, applied to the bronze, were not fired to fix them to the metal) figures. Many other bronzes were still based on designs by Franz Bergman, the elder.
Animal Subjects

Animal figures and birds like the cockerel can, occasionally, be found for a few hundred pounds, though sculptures in pristine condition and larger figures can be worth several thousand pounds. Value is affected by condition. The cold painted decoration is relatively easy to damage and worn Enamel will reduce value considerably.

Look out for Bergman’s distinctive signature marks: a ‘B’ in a vase shape and ‘Nam Greb’. This latter, which reads ‘Bergman’ in reverse, was often used on his more erotic pieces, which were not to the taste of his more conservative clients or his family.

These include sensuous poses of young women in the Art Nouveau style, disguised by a covering that revealed all when a button was pushed or a lever moved. Carefully sculpted animals, such as bears, could often be opened to reveal an erotic female figure inside.

Bergman was noted for his detailed and colourful work. He signed with either a letter ‘B’ in an urn-shaped cartouche or ‘Nam Greb’ – ‘Bergman’ in reverse. These marks were used to disguise his identity on erotic works.

Hickmet Fine Arts

Established in 1936, Hickmet Fine Arts is an international family run business and one of the world’s most important dealers in original Art Deco and Art Nouveau Antique Sculpture and Art Glass. We are located at Gallery 85 on London's famous Portobello Road where we offer a fine range of sculpture, glass and works of art from the 19th and 20th Centuries by the most famous sculptors and artists from this period.