Posted 8 years ago
Hyp-storian
(40 items)
I bought this gorgeous ORIGINAL c. 1890's/1900 bronze wall plaque as a Christmas present for my wife, and love it myself as well. It measures an impressive 8 3/4 inches (22 cm.) and is marked on the back "GESETZLICH GESCHUTZ" and with the number 2059. It weighs almost 3 pounds! I'm guessing it's possibly Austrian, or maybe German manufacture?
The fourth picture is another version of the same exact plaque that's partially "colored" and clearly signed by Mucha on the lower left shoulder (it can be seen if you enlarge the scan), The link to this was most kindly provided by czechglass5 (see her comment with link below).
Aside from 2 very minor dents (at the bottom at about 6:25 and 6:40), this plaque is in fantastic condition, and my wife and I feel very fortunate to have acquired it...!
Thanks for looking!
Gorgeous piece.
GESETZLICH GESCHUTZ is a marking indicating it is a "registered" or "patented" design, protected by law at the time of production. 2609 is likely a pattern or mold number.
I typed the number wrong... :-)
Thanks welzebub!
I knew what "geschutz" meant, but am hoping that someone out there knows if this is a Mucha piece, or can perhaps match that pattern number to a specific date.
Fabulous gift !! Wow!!
Beautiful plaque-- really shows quality!
scott
Thanks Sean & Scott- much appreciated!
your very welcome Hyp-storian.
This is amazing.
Thanks Peasejean...!
czechglass5,
Thank you SO much for providing this link and confirming it...!!!
; - )
Wow! That's fantastic!!!
CW people are of so much help too! Kudos to you, czechglass5 :-)
Yes, kyratango, kudos to czechglass5! I did what I thought was a very thorough search on the internet and came up empty, but she somehow managed to solve the mystery!
Very nice! Again CW people come though with the answers to our questions!
Good job czechglass5!
Thanks for the post of your beautiful plaque Hyp-storian, it worked! :^)
Thanks Bill- much appreciated!
i'm amazed!
Thanks ho2cultcha- same here!
This piece is not by Mucha, but is Mucha-inspired. The Byzantine woman seen here was a very popular motif, first created by Mucha, but then used for everything from biscuit tins, plaques and platters.
By Mucha-inspired, I mean that it was not rendered/sculpted by Mucha, but would have been signed so as to not infringe upon any French trade mark.
Also, I would add that the original image of the Byzantine woman was likely modeled by Sarah Bernhardt, Mucha's muse and important patron.
O.k., cogito- thanks for the clarification!
Hi czechglass5,
No, I wasn't aware of that page/link until you provided it, so thank you once again!
; - )
I agree with Cogito. It is a great example of a piece done in the "style" of Alphonse Mucha. We collect Mucha Prints and you see a lot of pieces done in a "stylistically similar" aesthetic, but not actually his work. Still, this is a great piece..... I made a major mistake though.... I showed it to my wife. :-)
Welzebub,
You never should have shown that to your wife- what's the matter with you?!
; - )
czechglass5,
Wow, you must be some kind of detective (interpol?)...; - )
It looks almost exactly the same as mine (rather, my wife's), aside from the finish. Hard to tell if that one is bronze from the photos (looks more like a gray metal?), and WHY did they refinish the other (companion) plaque- it looks terrible!
czechglass5,
Well, you are REALLY good at researching- that's for sure!
There is actually no "silver application" on mine- it's all bronze, but the raised parts are more polished bronze while the rest has a darker patina from age. Perhaps it looks more like "silver" on your computer monitor (?). My son-in-law (computer expert) explained to me that the exact colors I see on MY screen do not have to be the same as what other people see because there can be differences in tone and shade depending on various settings.
I agree that the "pewter" plaque doesn't look nearly as nice as my bronze one (in fact, the pewter actually looks "new"!), and the refinished one is more or less ruined (in my opinion at least).
Yes, the "actual" color is about halfway between the first 2 pictures. The difference was most likely caused by the camera settings the seller used (I just copied the seller's photos). I've no idea if it was manufactured with the "polished" highlights or if someone did that themselves (seems to me it came that way or it would have taken a LOT of work to achieve that!), but my wife and I think it's gorgeous. Much nicer, in our opinion, than either the "painted" version or the pewter version (looks like gray spray paint!).
Some other people might feel the other way though...
Having run an auction for a living, and also having personal experience with period bronze pieces, it is my opinion that both of the pieces being offered by the German seller are modern reproductions of older work. Neither of those examples are of the quality or the age of this example shown here.
Thanks for sharing that welzebub- that's definitely the same impression that I had, but without any experience (like yours) to base it on- just my gut feeling.
Simple answer. Because they cast it using an original with the correct markings. You would cast the entire thing in a cheap one off mold process for the front and back. Anyone doing it in that manner is making them in an attempt to deceive, and not to simply knock them off for resale.
The Indonesians do it for all kinds of knock off bronze reproductions, and ebay sellers offer them disingenuously.
There are much more detailed examples of this form currently for sale on Etsy for around 12-15 dollars each. Your choice of color, with several different finishing options. You can buy a pair of the plaques made to order for you. They are cast in a resin that has much better detail than the bad knockoffs the German seller is offering.
The German examples were produced to deceive. The Etsy examples are produced for decoration and offered honestly with no deception of any kind intended.
welzebub,
In other words: caveat emptor...!!
I see this kind of thing FREQUENTLY with all kinds of so-called "antique" bronzes- especially the animal miniatures supposedly by Franz Bergman. It really is despicable to deceive people like that, and it must be quite lucrative because there are so MANY fakes & forgeries being sold...
As stated above by Cogito, a position I agree with, the item was produced in the style of, or inspired by Mucha's Byzantine Woman, but is not actually a piece of Mucha's work.
I would add that the German sellers title states "after" Alfonse Mucha, "nach" indicating that they are not being represented as actual Mucha work, only as period (ca 1900) pieces in the style of Mucha.
I'd just like to add that THIS one, though not actually "issued" by Mucha himself, IS 100% period authentic and absolutely original (1897 - 1900).
I think if it was actually "manufactured" by Mucha then it would have cost somewhere in the 4, or maybe even 5, digits...; - )
And thank YOU for your extremely helpful research...; - )