Getting Bronzed

This languorous lass appears to be working on her tan, but she is already a beautiful golden bronze. Just 5 inches long, this sensual sculpture is exceptionally heavy for her size, making her a pulchritudinous paperweight for some gentleman's desk. She has a gilt patina, except for her bathing cap, which has a reddish tint. The sculpting is superb, from her supple curves to her bathing suit with its natty nautical collar to the ribbons on her ballet-style bathing slippers. 

Under her left hip is the "B" within an urn mark of the Viennese foundry of Franz Xaver Bergmann and "Austria."

Beach Blanket Bunco?

Bundled up in a beach blanket and bonnet, this lovely laughing bathing belle seems a bit covered up for a day of sand and sun. . . .

However, her hinged towel opens to reveal her very brief bathing suit and bare bosom.  Of gilded spelter, this naughty novelty is 5.5 inches long and 3 inches high.

Underneath she is marked "JB 2039." “JB” stands for Jennings Brothers Manufacturing Company, founded in 1890 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The company designed and created metal decorative objects, such as bookends, clocks, candelabras, and boxes. It went out of business in the 1950s and the original molds and casts were sold. I have noticed over the past few decades that this same piece is showing up rather frequently cast in bronze and attributed to the Viennese foundry of Franz Xaver Bergmann (or Bergman), which produced fine quality bronze sculptures, patinated or cold-painted, in a wide variety of subjects, from innocent animals to exotic Arabs to erotic scenes. These bronze versions are variously stamped with a blurred Bergmann urn mark or "Namgreb" (some erotic authentic Bergmann pieces were signed "Nam Greb, which is "Bergman," minus an "n," spelled backwards. Typically it is written as a faux signature with two separate words in graceful cursive).  They are rather roughly cast, with flaws in the bronze, and the sharp details seen in the Jennings Brothers belle are lost or blurred, such as the coils in the hair, the folds in the blanket and ribbing on the bathing suit, the delicate sculpting of the face, and the exposed nipples. The cold painting is heavy, garish, and rather sloppy.  I know that a bronze version of this belle is currently being produced by at least European manufacturer, stamped with the Bergmann urn mark; although I have seen similar bronze bathers offered for well over $1,000 on eBay.com, you can buy this one for a mere 169 euros (the gallery also offers a number of other recast Bergmann molds). 

Upon the death of Bergmann's son, the company's molds and remaining stock were sold in 1954 to Karl Fuhrmann and Company. Currently, there are high-quality reproductions from Bergmann's molds are being cast in Austria, and there are also poorer quality copies and outright fakes coming out of Europe and Asia.  Bergmann bronzes are highly collectible, especially the naughtier subjects, so unfortunately there is a lot of incentive to peddle recasts and fakes as originals.  Although it is possible Bergmann copied the Jennings Brothers or the Jennings Brothers introduced a less expensive version of a Bergmann bronze, my suspicion, taking into account the large number and lesser quality of the bronze versions, is that they are modern pieces with dubious signatures, not authentic antiques.

A close up of the Jennings Brothers bather shows the nice sharp details, missing on the bronze versions.

Skirting the Issue

This exotic dancer poses prettily on a oriental rug in the center of a onyx ashtray.  However, this nuatch dancer has a naughty secret. . . . 

as her hinged skirt lifts up the in front, unveiling her (literally and figurally).  Of detailed bronze, cold-painted in subtle colors, this harem dancer is 6.25 inches tall.  Two corners of the 7-inch wide ashtray have gilt metal plaques engraved with the names “MORTON” and “KIKI.”  

Her supporting sash covers most of her marking across her lower back, but similar dancing damsels are incised with a stylized urn containing a "B" and “Nam Greb.” The urn mark is of the Viennese foundry of Franz Xaver Bergmann, which produced detailed bronze sculptures from the 1860s until 1936. Along with more innocent subjects, such as the miniature animals, comic images, and Middle Eastern scenes, the foundry produced erotic bronzes, often featuring woman whose beauty could be bared by lifting a piece of drapery or pressing a button or an object, such as an owl or an Egyptian sarcophagus, that opened to expose a nubile nude within.  The erotic subjects are often marked "Nam Greb," the reverse of Bergmann's name (minus one "n"). Upon the death of Bergmann's son, the company's molds and remaining stock were sold in 1954 to Karl Fuhrmann and Company.  Currently, there are high-quality and costly reproductions from Bergmann's molds are being cast in Austria, and there are also cheaper and poorer quality copies of some of the erotic Bergmann models coming out of Europe, China, or India. These latter pieces have poor modeling and blurred details, may be garishly painted or patinated, and the female figurines' figures often have been slimmed down (but their breasts enlarged) to cater to modern tastes. Many of these bronzes, whether recast from an original mold or carelessly copied, still carry the Bergmann or Nam Grab marks.  This vamp in a veil is probably one of the most copied Bergmann erotic bronzes.

Golden Girl

This bronze bathing beauty flings her arms wide to embrace the seaside sunshine, breathing deeply of fresh ocean air. In her exuberance, she is apparently unaware that the top of her 1920s bathing suit has slipped beneath her breasts. Superbly sculpted, with a golden patina, this lovely lithe lass is 9.75 inches tall, including her polished pink marble base, imbedded with intriguing fossils.

Her base is signed with what appears to be "Remi." Although this statuette is clearly by a skilled sculptor, I could not find any similar name or signature in the four-volume "Bronzes, Sculptors and Founders" by Harold Berman. An Internet search found an artist by the name of "Remi Palmier," but the few examples I found of his bronzes are signed with his full name and, frankly, his work is not of the same fine quality. From the late 1800s through the 1920s there were hundreds of workshops and foundries in Austria, Germany, France, and the United States creating small detailed bronzes and statuettes, the most famous of which is the Viennese foundry of Franz Xaver Bergmann.  Many of these bronzes, like this fabulous flapper, were a bit on the naughty side.  With hundreds of artists working during this period, identifying her specific sculptor may not be possible.  But if anyone has any information, I would love to hear from you!

Peek-A-Boo. . . We See You!

In this bronze figurine, a shy bathing belle peeks out of her beach cabana, demurely clutching the curtains closed so that all we see is her sweetly-smiling face and dainty slippered feet.  But press down on the button atop her tent. . . .

and you are treated to a whole other side of her personality. Pulling out the button on the left side of the changing hut restores her modesty by flipping the bare beauty back to her original position. 

 

This erotic mechanical bronze is 6.25 inches tall. The lower back base of cabana incised with stylized urn contains a "B" and “Nam Greb Austria.” The "B" in the urn is the mark of the Viennese foundry of Franz Xaver Bergmann, which produced detailed bronze sculptures from the 1860s until 1936. Among the miniature animals, comic subjects, and Middle Eastern scenes, the foundry produced erotic bronzes, typically featuring a nude woman or a pair of naked lovers secreted within a seemingly innocuous subject, only to be revealed by a push of a button or lifting a up a piece of metal drapery. Often the erotic subjects are marked "Nam Greb," the reverse of Bergmann's name (less one "n"). Bergmann's son subsequently reopened the foundry, but the molds and remaining stock were sold at his death in 1954 to Karl Fuhrmann and Company. Currently, there are high-quality (and expensive) reproductions from Bergmann's molds, typically the miniature cold-painted animals, being cast in Austria, but as far as I can tell, not of the more complicated mechanical bronzes. There are also cheaper and poorer quality copies of some of the erotic Bergmann models coming out of Europe, China, or India. These pieces have poor modeling and blurred details, may be garishly gold-painted or patinated, and the female figurines' figures often have been slimmed down (but their breasts enlarged) to cater to modern tastes.  Many of these bronzes, whether recast from an original mold of carelessly copied, carry the Bergmann or Nam Grab marks.