Code: MI23376
Dimensions:
A delightful early Art Deco Austrian marble pin dish mounted with two cold painted owls attributed to Franz Xaver Bergmann (Austrian, 1861-1936) and dating from around 1920.
Franz Bergmann was a renowned maker of detailed and colorful works in bronze which were made at his foundry in Vienna. The foundry was inherited from his father, by the same name, who set up a smaller foundry in 1860 but opened a new larger foundry in 1900. There were around fifty similar workshops producing Vienna bronzes making attribution difficult.
The opaque and grey veined ashtray is of polished round shape with a raised rounded rim with flat edge. The two owls, possibly a parent with young, have been mounted to the edge and are perched on a large rockwork style base which rests over the edge of the base and was obviously made in conjunction with the pin dish. The birds are finely detailed and finely cold painted with good attention to detail with naturalistic coloring and good facial features. There are no markings we can see.
Provenance: acquired through the UK art market.
In good condition with some wear associated with age and use
