A rare group of Viennese bronze chess pieces, Franz Xaver Bergmann, early 20th century,
Lot Closed
April 7, 02:22 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A rare group of Viennese bronze chess pieces, Franz Xaver Bergmann
early 20th century
comprising a full set of 32 mice divided into two teams, white and grey, comprising: two kings, each holding an orb and a sceptre; two crowned queens; four rooks, each cast as a mouse guarding a tower; four bishops cast as bandana-wearing runners or relay racers; four knights cast as mice riding hobby horses; and 16 pawns cast as small dancing mice, maker's mark, further stamped: Austria
3.5cm., 1 1/2 in. to 7cm., 2 3/4 in. high
The designer of this rare chess set evidently had a good sense of humour and enjoyed a pun. The German word for the chess piece of a bishop is Läufer ('runner'); and the mice on hobby horses represent the German word Springer (i.e. a vaulter, as in a jumping horse), which is the equivalent of the English 'knight' in the context of chess.
Franz Xaver Bergman (1861–1936) was the son of the Bohemian bronze caster Franz Bergman, who had opened his own workshop in Vienna in 1860. The Bergman Bronzegiesserei, later taken over by the son and – with only a short break during the Great Depression - in business until 1954, remains best known for their intricate figures of animals in human-like attire and postures, painted in cold enamel. In 1960, the company was taken over by Karl Fuhrmann, who added his own diamond-shaped mark and the initials KF to the maker’s mark.
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