Franz Xaver Bergmann Autrichien, 1861-1936

Born in Vienna in 1861, Franz Xaver Bergmann inherited his father’s bronze foundry, established in 1860. Around 1900, he took over the workshop and led it to prominence as a key producer of “Vienna bronze”—small decorative bronze pieces with patina and cold-painting.

Though not a sculptor himself, he commissioned anonymous artists to create diverse figurines: animals, Oriental figures, and sometimes playful or erotic nudes. These pieces, vivid in color and finely detailed, bore his signature—a “B” in an urn-shaped cartouche—or the pseudonym Nam Greb (“Bergmann” spelled backwards).

His collectible, highly prized works exhibit technical precision and visual flair, especially in naturalistic renderings of wildlife, exotic characters, or curious scenes. The factory ceased operations during the 1930s depression, and Bergmann died in Vienna in 1936.