Object Description
Bronze lamp in the form of a townhouse by Bergman
Austrian, c. 1900
Height 30m, width 17cm, depth 10cm
This delightful cold-painted bronze lamp was crafted by the famous Viennese foundry owner, Franz Xavier Bergman. Franz Xavier inherited the Bergman Foundry from his father, Franz Bergman, in the 1890s. Bergman’s works were called ‘cold-painted’, meaning that several layers of paint were applied by hand to the bronze piece after it had been cast.
The lamp takes the form of a tall, multi-storeyed timber and brick building. The house is faced with yellow plaster and roofed with red tiles. It is dotted with green-grilled windows of varying shape and size and features a small turret on its right side. A door opens on the left side of the middle storey, to allow access to the light bulb contained there. When turned on, the light produced by the bulb shines atmospherically out through the house’s coloured windows.
To the right of the building, a minstrel stands on stone steps, and sings along to a tune he plays on his mandolin. The hanging sign of a boot projects out from the house on the left, identifying the building as a cobbler’s shop. Indeed, the two large oak doors at the front of the house open to reveal a cobbler at work, mending shoes at his desk.
Bergman’s monogram is stamped onto the lamp.