Desk Eagle Question...

[Br. James]

Dear friends,

As you may know, I have never had the capacity to photograph and display my collections; the needed technology is beyond my talents. I state this again, up front, as I know the first request you will have is: "Please post photos!" ...and I cannot comply.

Having said that, my question has to do with a mark on the reverse of a statue of the Great Eagle of Nuremberg in my collection, a desktop piece I bought from Don Falk in Denver about 15+ years ago. Don could provide no information as to the history of this piece, but when I saw it while visiting at his home, I simply HAD to own it...and after some months of haggling, he complied with my wish!

The piece is a Nuremberg-style eagle which appears to be brass w/fire gilt finish, sitting atop a complex base of red veined marble and metal accent pieces. It may have been originally created as an award for some event or contest, though it has no award plate or the remaining brass plaque holes which normally attest to having once been used as a presentation piece.

My question has to do with the only marking on this piece: the reverse base of the bird sculpture carries an impressed or stamped mark of "B 41" and nothing else -- no RZM logo or M/code or maker's name or foundry mark...nothing else. I asked Don Falk about this mark and he suggested that it may have represented "Baujahr 1941," though he was certainly not sure of that.

I humbly ask anyone here who can provide me with any further information or thoughts on this marking to please respond to this thread...I will be most grateful. And again, my apologies for not being able to provide any photos of the piece in question. With my thanks in advance,

Br. James

[Military]

Hello BR James,

I've sent you an email and happy to help post a photo on your behalf.
Check your inbox.

Mil

[Br. James]

Many thanks, Mil. I've responded to your kind note. As I said in my initial note, I am unable to photograph or to send pix of anything in my collections; my hope is that someone here will have seen the sort of mark I described and will be able to give me some information on it's meaning.

Thanks again, my friend,

Br. James

[Br. James]

Dear friends,

Does anyone have any experience with this mark or any thoughts as to what it might represent on this bird...see my post #1.

I look forward to any and all responses! Cheers,

Br. James

[mloppkit]

Hi Br. James,
It sounds like a very nice eagle.

The piece is a Nuremberg-style eagle which appears to be brass w/fire gilt finish.....

I have a possible idea of the maker based on similar markings but very hard to say definitively without pictures. We can play detective though and hopefully narrow it down to this maker or exclude it with more information. Are you able to provide dimensions of the eagle not including the marble base and further details. For example, does the head face left or right? Is it definitely brass or could it be bronze?, What does the base look like where the eagles wreath meets the marble?, Is it one of the standard Nuremberg patterns eg an 'HB', or an M3/100?, is it a brass running Swaz Nuremberg eagle like Charlie Duke's? is it an estate-cast KSE? If it helps, have a look at 10 of the most common Nuremberg eagle styles from other WAF posts and the net and see if yours shares any of these features or characteristics,

Cheers

[Br. James]

Hi Michael,

Thanks so much for taking the time to help me with this question -- VERY helpful indeed! My desk eagle matches almost exactly with example #1 in your selection pix below; its head faces toward its left and it sits atop a wreath w/static swaz. I am unable to ascertain the base metal of the eagle as its gilt finish appears almost complete, though faded in certain areas. The bird measures 12 cm at its widest point on the wings; the entire eagle/swaz statue measures 13 cm from head to gilded base; and the base itself, where it meets the top marble section of the lower base, measures 6 cm wide x 3 cm deep.

The eagle's reverse is fully carved, as are the sides of the wreath. The code of "B 41" appears to be die-stamped, as it is quite distinct, and it appears on the reverse side of the 'middle step' of the gilded base, to the far right of that 'step.' The overall piece, including the marble and brass base section, is just shy of 11 cm tall. There are two slabs of pink veined marble, with three spiraled brass columns separating the two marble slabs; the eagle figure sits atop the smaller slab (130 mm wide x 65 mm deep x 24 mm thick), with the larger slab supporting the entire piece (164 mm wide x 81 mm deep x 24 mm thick). The only scale I have at hand is a postage scale which weighs articles up to 5 lbs., and this eagle slightly exceeds that maximum.

I'm delighted to have your input with this question, Michael, and I look forward to your response. I hope the dimensions and the description above will point you in the right direction!

Cheers, my friend,

Br. James

[mloppkit]

Hi Br. James,

The sizes you give and description match Mils' Nuremberg bird recently posted again for us. Both of you have the extremely scarce gold gilt versions of this Nuremberg eagle and from the description of your elaborate base, Mils' comment may be spot-on. I have only seen the beautiful tiered 3 columned bases on a few occasions and when I have they have been politically attributed.

The gold gilt desk eagles, my guess was meant for high level politicians or possibly for the highest VIPs. ....Mil

I have never been lucky enough to own a gold version myself but we do know that these birds were made by the Berlin maker emmrich+schoenig (RZM 3/100)so it could well be that 'B 41' stands for 'Berlin 1941' or as another colleague suggested, something as simple as 'Bilden or Bilder 1941'. I was hoping for your sake that the bird was a 'Brandstetter 1941' but these were usually bronze and a lot larger. Either way you have a fantastic Nuremberg eagle with the scarce gold finish and an even scarcer multi-tiered pink marble base. Congratulations on owning such a fine bird and sorry I am unable to provide any other information but hopefully some other forum members will chime in with their thoughts,

Best Regards,
Michael

[Br. James]

Dear Michael,

Thank you so much for going to the effort you've gone to help me identify the bird in my collection! Your response is very helpful, and I look forward to hearing from other collectors and 'bird' specialists in response to my inquiry.

With all good wishes,

Br. James