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Unusual Antique Austrian Bronze Chess Set by Franz Bergman
$44,057.50per set
£32,000per set
€37,691.19per set
CA$60,356.57per set
A$66,970.71per set
CHF 35,080.70per set
MX$821,240.64per set
NOK 446,214.38per set
SEK 421,207.34per set
DKK 281,086.86per set
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About the Item
Unusual antique Austrian bronze chess set by Franz Bergman
Austrian, circa 1905
Largest piece height 7cm, diameter 3cm
Smallest piece height 3.5cm, diameter 3cm
Comprising the full set of thirty-two pieces as mice, this chess set by Bergman is particularly rare and impressive. Each piece has been very finely cast and cold painted- a technique perfected in Vienna around the turn of the 20th century- and was made by the top respected and celebrated craftsman of the time, Franz Xaver Bergman. He was known for his fine quality small animal objects- of which most common examples can be found in publications such as 'Antique Vienna Bronzes' by Joseph Zobel. There are no known documented examples of any of the models in this set, indicating it might have originally been commissioned for an important royal or noble person with a keen interest in chess.
Each individual piece represents a mouse in the typical form of a chess piece with two teams in grey and white colours. The pieces comprise rooks as castles, knights with hobby horse toys, bishops as runners (as they are known in German), queens and kings with typical royal regalia and pawns as smaller mice in the form of beggars or peasants (as they are known in German). Almost all the pieces are marked underneath with a B inside an urn, which is the foundry mark for Bergman, and further stamped 'Austria'.
- Creator:Franz Bergmann (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 2.76 in (7 cm)Diameter: 1.19 in (3 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 32
- Materials and Techniques:Bronze,Cold-Painted
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1905
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: 164191stDibs: LU956319670982
Franz Bergmann
There were many bronze foundries operating in Vienna in this period, but it was Bergman’s which became the most celebrated, working with a number of celebrated Viennese sculptors at the turn of the 20th Century, such as Bruno Zach, to produce designs for his famous bronze figures. Bergman bronzes are especially famous for having utilised a technique for decorating the bronzes called cold painting. Cold painting as a technique developed in Vienna in the late 19th Century, and involved the application of several layers of paint added to the bronze after firing. It was used to make fashionable collectors’ items. Bergman figures came in three main forms: animal figures, Orientalist sculptures, and erotic figures in the Art Nouveau style. His animal figures were often whimsical and humorous, and often satirical. They have become highly sought-after collectors’ items today. Bergman’s Orientalist sculptures are equally highly sought-after. He was producing these figures at a time when interest in the exotic lands of the Middle East and North Africa was at its peak among Europe’s artists and buyers.
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