Armand Jean le Bouthillier de Rancé ?. Portrait. European School. 17th/18th Century Oil Painting on Canvas

A lovely bronze sculptural object. We have available a Bronze figure of a seated Camel, in a naturalistic style, signed and dated F. Gornik 1923. Gornik (1877-1943) Austrian. Visible on the side of the bronze is the Berndorf foundry stamp (Austria). It measures 5 ¾” L  x 3 ¼” W x 3 ½” H. and is in excellent condition, casting is superb!

Friedrich Gornik attended a technical school in Villach before he studied and worked for a year with Theodor Charlemont in Vienna. Afterwards (1897-1905) he studied at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, which he completed with a travel scholarship. At an exhibition in Villach in 1903, he presented his works, including ceramic animal representations, partly for lighting fixtures, as well as designs for vases and bowls. Subsequently, Gornik created large animal figures in plaster, which were cast by other artists and were inspired by his own zoological studies in the Schönbrunn Zoo. A naturalistic horse group, the Troika, was bought by Emperor Franz Joseph I and is now in the imperial villa in Bad Ischl.

An antique Art Deco bronze sculpture by Schmidt Hofer. This is a superbly cast bronze figure of a standing male in the position of a bowler about to roll a bowling ball, on a black-toned marble pedestal. The details of the figure's shirt and hands are skillfully rendered. The figure is signed Schmidt Hofer on the top of the base and there is an illegitimate Foundry mark, probably the mark of 'Deutsche Bronze' on the side of the base.

This Bronze is in excellent condition, with a few minor chips to the base and one small chip on the top of the marble pedestal, very appropriate for its age.

Bronze : 2" w x 3 01/4" l x 7 1/2" h.

With  pedestal : 2 3/4" w x 4 1/2" l x 10 1/2" h

Otto Schmidt-Hofer born in Berlin 1873  was a German sculptor who worked during the late 19th century and early 20th century. His work was primarily Neoclassical and Art Nouveau between 1893-1914 and Art Deco from 1915 until his death in 1925 Berlin , Germany.