Known aptly as "The Hugger," this erotic ivory miniature is one of the best known, and most controversial, works by Bruno Zach. Her enthusiastic embrace of a gigantic male member certainly suggests that for her, size really does matter.
Born in the Ukraine in 1891, as a young man Zach migrated to Austria to study sculpture at the Vienna Academy. A skilled artist with a wicked sense of humor, Zach specialized in depicting lithe young sexually liberated women, often in various states of undress, as they danced, posed, engaged in sports (of all kinds), and sometimes indulged in some rather kinky antics. His works appear in bronze, chryselephantine, and, far less commonly, ivory. A mere two inches tall, this very naughty little nymph and the oversized object of her affection is beautifully carved, from the details of her face to the bows on her stocking garters. Although there are no marks, fine crosshatching, known as Schreger lines, is visible underneath, identifying this as elephant ivory.
Zach apparently decided that his creation was not quite naughty enough, so he depicted the enamored miss with the back of her chemise open, baring her bottom. "The Hugger" has been widely reproduced in bronze, the more modern castings lacking the fine details and cold-painted patina of Zach's original works. This may be one of Zach's most copied works, along with "The Riding Crop," a sculpture depicting a partially nude woman standing with her legs spread in a pose that is both inviting and imperious, as she holds the eponymous riding crop behind her back.
