I have the chance to get these two bronzes. The current owner is a good, long time friend and client. He has absolutely no motive for deception. He owned a number of large antique stores at one time, and is now retired.
I would very much appreciate any suggestions on how I can authenticate these pieces, since they certainly are unusual.
If any of the paper collectors have a photograph of the location, that would be really great.
If I don't purchase these pieces, they will be donated to a museum, something I hate to see, since the will likely be stashed in a basement forever.
The photographs were take with his cell phone, so they are not great.
Here is the story :
It was 1969 and we were with our guide/buyer in Vienna. We had a rags and
bones fellow that was a bit out of town and had a huge amount of all kinds of antique turn of the century good looking (to Americans) stuff. His name was Gorman and we had bought a lot of things from him. When we arrived in Vienna on that trip to buy for the 9 big antique stores we owned, our man in Vienna, said that Gorman Sr had died and his son had something very controversial and wanted it out of the country and would not sell it to a european. The next day we went to Gorman's and were led down into
the basement. Young Gorman lifted a red tarp off of two objects and we all stared at them for quite a long time. There they were: Adolph Hitler and Hermann Goring peering at us in their radiant bronze effigies. Goring appears to be life size and Hitler is 3 times life size. Here is the story as told to us by Gorman's son: It was April, 1945 and the heavy fighting in Vienna has stopped. The towns people rushed the Parliament building and tore down all emblems representing the German occupation. Senior Gorman went to the podium in the Parliament building where Hitler had made many
speeches and in front of the podium was this huge bronze bust of Adolph Hitler by Pageles. To the left and right of the Hitler's bust were Goering and Goebbles, and others on down in importance. Senior Gorman ripped the two busts off the front of the podium area and toted them home, placing them in a hidden niche in the basement. They remained there for 34 years until Gorman's death. His son was very sensitive to the fact that if it was known that he had the busts he could be labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, so he wanted them out of the country. We bought them and they have been in a closet in our house for 40 years now.
Wolfgang
I would very much appreciate any suggestions on how I can authenticate these pieces, since they certainly are unusual.
If any of the paper collectors have a photograph of the location, that would be really great.
If I don't purchase these pieces, they will be donated to a museum, something I hate to see, since the will likely be stashed in a basement forever.
The photographs were take with his cell phone, so they are not great.
Here is the story :
It was 1969 and we were with our guide/buyer in Vienna. We had a rags and
bones fellow that was a bit out of town and had a huge amount of all kinds of antique turn of the century good looking (to Americans) stuff. His name was Gorman and we had bought a lot of things from him. When we arrived in Vienna on that trip to buy for the 9 big antique stores we owned, our man in Vienna, said that Gorman Sr had died and his son had something very controversial and wanted it out of the country and would not sell it to a european. The next day we went to Gorman's and were led down into
the basement. Young Gorman lifted a red tarp off of two objects and we all stared at them for quite a long time. There they were: Adolph Hitler and Hermann Goring peering at us in their radiant bronze effigies. Goring appears to be life size and Hitler is 3 times life size. Here is the story as told to us by Gorman's son: It was April, 1945 and the heavy fighting in Vienna has stopped. The towns people rushed the Parliament building and tore down all emblems representing the German occupation. Senior Gorman went to the podium in the Parliament building where Hitler had made many
speeches and in front of the podium was this huge bronze bust of Adolph Hitler by Pageles. To the left and right of the Hitler's bust were Goering and Goebbles, and others on down in importance. Senior Gorman ripped the two busts off the front of the podium area and toted them home, placing them in a hidden niche in the basement. They remained there for 34 years until Gorman's death. His son was very sensitive to the fact that if it was known that he had the busts he could be labeled as a Nazi sympathizer, so he wanted them out of the country. We bought them and they have been in a closet in our house for 40 years now.
Wolfgang
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