catalog text
ART DECO FIGURAL MANTEL CLOCK
Anton Grath (Austrian, b. 1881) | patinated and burnished bronze over marble | signed "Anton Grath" and foundry marking monogrammed "HW" within an "H" to right side of base | Circa 1925
Item # 203AXG01W
A powerful figural clock of a partially nude male and female raising offerings of a laurel wreath and an empty vessel, they face one another before the bold architectural display of the clock flanked by coned finials. They are loosely symmetrical in garb, the burnished bronze capes flowing gently around and before them.
The circular face of the clock rests on a pair of sleeping lions over a textured bronze rectangular plinth with a burnished bronze bas-relief of a young woman lying in the grasses of a setting sun raised on a variated marble base. This model was acquired formerly at the Sotheby's, New York sale on April 14th 2008, [Sale N08427, lot 155, achieved $ 5,000 USD] and the patina was enhanced at some point in the last fourteen years to include the parcel-burnished highlights in the figures. The right side of the base includes the signature and a monogrammed foundry mark (HW within an H). A very fine period example.
Anton Grath was born in Vienna on October 18th of 1881. He studied at the Arts and Crafts school of Vienna as well as the Vienna Academy. He would later work in Berlin, Zürich, Moscow and Olmutz (now Olomouc, Czech Republic). He produced a number of religious sculptures, including his Mater Dolorosa and Christ, Salome, and St. George. He was commissioned for a commemorative monuments for Schiller in Villach and became well-known for commemorative medallions including bas-reliefs of Goethe, Nietzsche, Richard Wagner and Kaiser Franz Josef. Heavily influenced by the Art Deco aesthetic, he produced a number of sculptures in this vein, including Kneeling Nude (see Berman, vol. IV, ill. 2007), Amazonian on Horseback, Europa on Bull, Lady Godiva, and Diana on Horseback.
Artist Listings & Bibliography:
- E. Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. VI, Gründ, 2006, p. 592-593
- The Dictionary of Western Sculptors in Bronze, Mackay, Baron, 1977, p. 166
- Art Bronzes, Forest, Schiffer, 1988, p. 476
Measurements: 17 3/4" H x 21" W x 4 1/4" D
Condition Report:
Movement appears to be complete but is untested; includes key. Some later relieving to the patina its 2008 sale at Sotheby's [figures, wreath, finials, garments]. Minor wear to patina throughout, including wear/scuffing and a spot of patina loss where a piece of tape was perhaps removed on the dome movement cover verso; patina wear to the woman's fingertips and arm, the edges of the male's face and a spot of patina loss beside signature; the dome movement cover has some bending to the edges (hidden once inserted); some patina wear and rubbing at points where separately cast elements join (i.e extreme edges of the clock face).