‘Open Sesame’ – A Finely Cast Gilt and Patinated Bronze Concealed Erotic Figure Of A Young Woman in A Cloak, by Carl Kauba.
This rare gilt and patinated bronze by Carl Kauba is finely modelled as as a female figure, her hinged cloak in patinated bronze opening to reveal a naked figure in gilt bronze.
The figure is raised on a square section base, signed ‘C. Kauba’.
Austrian, Circa 1900.
Carl Kauba (1865-1922) studied in Vienna under Carl Waschmann and Stefan Schwartz. Little is known about the life of this interesting sculptor who, in true Viennese style nearly always, but by no means exclusively, produced polychromatic bronzes, cold painted after casting and finishing.
Initially inspired by the romantic stories of the American West written by the German Carl May, his work is normally restricted to scenes from the Wild West rather than specific animals. His period casts are often by the Bergman Foundry.
Berman, Harold. Bronzes, Sculptors and Founders 1800-1930, vol.ll, Abage, (Chicago), 1980; p.282, fig.998 for an illustration of this figure.
By appointment only.
