A later example cast bronze ring necked cock pheasant by the Bergmann foundry of Austria, circa 1945. Robert Bergmann re-opened the family foundry after it had closed in 1930 and produced works until his death in 1954.
The foundry, originally run by his father, Franz Xaver Bergmann, had been forced to shut down in 1930 due to the economic devastation of the Great Depression. Following its closure and his father's death in 1936, the facilities remained closed through the turbulent years surrounding World War II.
Dimensions: 21.5cm/8½ inches (height) x 35cm/13¾ inches (length) x 8 cm/3⅛ inches (width).
The Bergmann foundry was established in Vienna and produced various works in bronze from 1860 onwards, including whimsical, humorous objets d'art and figurines but they have become particularly well known for their cold-painted bronze birds and animals. At the turn of the 19th century there were about fifty workshops producing Vienna bronzes.
The foundry workshops employed a team of sculptors to create the original models that the castings were taken from. 'Cold-painted' refers to the decoration of the bronzes. Carried out in several layers with so-called dust paint; the know-how for the mix of this kind of paint has been lost to history. The color was not fired, hence 'cold painted'. The painting was mainly done by women working at home, in a typical cottage industry set-up.
