Bronze Lamp in the Form of a Townhouse by Bergman

Name: Bronze Lamp in the Form of a Townhouse by Bergman
Brand: Franz Xaver Bergman (Bergmann)
Price: 9189.34 CHF
Availability: InStock
Rating: 5 (39 reviews)

About the Item

Bronze lamp in the form of a townhouse by Bergman Austrian, circa 1900 Measures: Height 30m, width 17cm, depth 10cm This delightful cold-painted bronze lamp was crafted by the famous Viennese foundry owner, Franz Xavier Bergman. Franz Xavier inherited the Bergman Foundry from his father, Franz Bergman, in the 1890s. Bergman’s works were called ‘cold-painted’, meaning that several layers of paint were applied by hand to the bronze piece after it had been cast. The lamp takes the form of a tall, multi-storeyed timber and brick building. The house is faced with yellow plaster and roofed with red tiles. It is dotted with green-grilled windows of varying shape and size and features a small turret on its right side. A door opens on the left side of the middle storey, to allow access to the light bulb contained there. When turned on, the light produced by the bulb shines atmospherically out through the house’s colored windows. To the right of the building, a minstrel stands on stone steps, and sings along to a tune he plays on his mandolin. The hanging sign of a boot projects out from the house on the left, identifying the building as a cobbler’s shop. Indeed, the two large oak doors at the front of the house open to reveal a cobbler at work, mending shoes at his desk. Bergman’s monogram is stamped onto the lamp.

Creator:
Franz Xaver Bergman (Bergmann) (Maker)
Dimensions:
Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Width: 6.7 in (17 cm)Depth: 3.94 in (10 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Bronze,Cold-Painted
Place of Origin:
Austria
Period:
Early 20th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1900
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 164831stDibs: LU956319749872

Shop All Franz Xaver Bergman (Bergmann)

Franz Xaver Bergman (Bergmann)

Globally celebrated Austrian metal worker Franz Xaver Bergman(n) is known for his bronze statuettes and figurines, which are rich with personality and alive with color.

Bergmann's father, Franz Bergmann, Sr., apprenticed under Josef Ott and became a professional caster and chaser, who moved from Gablonz, Bohemia, to Vienna in 1860, where he opened a small foundry. There, he put what he’d learned about naturally patinating bronzes and created popular figurines and sculptures. At the turn of the century, Bergmann inherited the company from his father and opened a second foundry.

At the Bergmann Foundry, Franz Xaver Bergmann created numerous bronze figures, employing a technique now known as “cold painting” that has been lost to time. Bergmann’s early works were based on his father’s molds. He hired local workers to cast his own designs.

Bergmann’s works encompass an immense variety of subject matter. His foundry created bronzes of humanized animals, mythological creatures and animals in natural poses. Many of his statuettes are representative of his fondness for faraway lands and peoples, with a great number of his works depicting Native American, Asian, Persian and Arabian cultures. He's also known to have created some risqué Art Nouveau figurines — to some collectors, the Bergmann Foundry is known for its sculptures of women in various sensuous poses wearing ingeniously executed removable articles of bronze clothing.

Franz Xaver Bergmann’s recognized maker’s mark was a capital “B” inside a scrolled horseshoe, but Bergmann would place the pseudonym "Nam Greb" — the reverse of his last name — on his racier pieces, to keep his more conservative and conventional customers from connecting his name to those works.

Bergmann had to close his company’s doors in 1930 owing to the financial strains that came with the Great Depression. He died in 1936 before the company could open again. His son, Robert Bergmann, reopened the foundry many years later and continued to own and operate it until his death in 1954. Karl Fuhrmann & Co. purchased what remained of the company after Robert died. Bergmann’s cast-bronze figures endure to this day and are highly prized by collectors and enthusiasts of figurative art.

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