A pair of bronze miniature Barzoi dogs
Bronze
Sitting Dog: 10.6 x 6.8 x 4.6 cm
Standing Dog: 10.2 x 12 x 4.8 cm
ca 1900
Austria, Vienna
Description
Exceptional and rare pair of Vienna bronze Barzoi Dogs, one standing and one sitting. Both are wearing a leash with a token. The Barzoi is known as the Russian Tsar dog, related to the wolf family.
The pair has a beautiful patina, very nicely cast and detailed chisseled. The quality is high, especially due to the cold-painted technique. This technique refers to the bronzes that have been casted in Vienna and afterwards were very delicately decorated in several layers with gold-dust. As the color was not heated it is called cold-painted. The know-how for this kind of paint has been lost.
Foundry
FOUNDRY FRANZ BERGMANN (1861-Austria-1936)
The Bergmann foundry employed many anonymous sculptors, mostly on a temporary base.
The sitting dog has a number at the bottom: 0676.
Provenance
Private Collection The Netherlands,
Acquired 2001 at Sotheby's Auction Amsterdam