Antique Fox Sitting | Large | Viennese Bronze

Antique Fox Sitting | Large | Viennese Bronze 

3 1/8 (left to right) x 2 1/2 (front to back) x 3 3/4 (height)

 Vienna bronze, also known as Austrian bronze or Viennese bronze, is a special art form that dates back to the mid-Victorian era. The earliest foundries were formed in 1850 and produced thousands of individually cast bronze miniatures, sculptures and figurines. Viennese bronzes gained recognition for their incredibly lifelike depictions of humans and animals of all species, measuring only millimeters in size. Many pieces were finished with beautiful patinas and hand-painted detail to bring the creations to life. Over 20,000 to 30,000 different original designs are capable of being produced by the foundries, reflecting popular European taste throughout the eras. Antique and Victorian-era Vienna bronze pieces have now become very collectible!

This wonderful miniature figurine from the late Victorian era (ca1900) is an excellent example of the traditional Vienna bronze art form! Cast entirely in bronze, this small, three-dimensional sculpture depicts an incredibly lifelike fox. The fox is freestanding on small individual legs and feet, and it sits with its tail stretched out behind its body, its head turned to one side. Lightly textured detail on the surface of the piece represents its fur, and carefully hand-painted details bring its features to life in a lovely orange, white, and black colors. A very special collector's piece, it displays exemplary craftsmanship, and would make a unique addition to any antique collection!

Viennese bronzes are famous and distinguished by their naturalistic and detailed representation of human figures, and all species of animals, ranging from Oriental bazaars, or elegant erotic nudes to life-like birds of prey or amusing frogs, pigs, dogs (of every breed), cats, and insects acting like people, or just themselves. Also, there is the wonderful line of Beatrice Potter figures. The pieces can differ in size from a few millimeters up to almost a meter. They are unequalled in their state of the art finish as they are beautifully cold painted in naturalistic colors, skillfully patinated, or gilded. Through their broad variety of subjects, sizes and finishes, these bronzes reflect the contemporary taste of the Viennese and European public in general and they are being sold to collectors all over the world. They are directly designed by the artists to give shape to the casting moulds for further reproduction.

The Vienna Bronze foundries have been in existence since 1850. Mr. Bermann and Mr. Bergmann, the original owners, designed many, many bronzes. There are approximately 20 to 30 thousand different bronzes that the foundries are capable of producing. No one has ever taken the time to hand count them.

Each bronze separately cast. This means, if you have a bronze bird on a nest, the bird is one piece and the nest is one piece. There is only one man doing all the casting and filing. The bronzes are sand-casted. This is a procedure that consists of wet sand. They take the original mold, press it into the sand, which leaves an impression. Then the man pours in the hot bronze. He lets it cool and then will hand file each piece. The pieces are then soldered together to create the bird on the nest.

Once the bronze is made, it is taken into a room where 2 or 3 women will hand paint the piece with oil paint. Each piece has approximately 5 to 10 coats of paint on them. This is a feast in itself. All these people are artists and should be appreciated for all the work they do.

Salzburg Creations, Inc. is an exclusive Vienna Bronze importer in the United States.

Please allow us to know of your interest:
Sterling and Burke Ltd
Georgetown, Washington, DC
Next to Four Seasons Hotel
1.202.333.2266
Gallery@SterlingAndBurke.com