Original Bronze Art Deco Czech Sculpture for Skoda Automobiles | Statues | Art Deco Collection
Click to enlarge

Original Bronze Art Deco Czech Sculpture for Skoda Automobiles

Item #3180 SOLD

Original Bronze Art Deco Czech Sculpture for Skoda Automobiles. The most famous car company from the Czech Republic with roots all the way from 1895 making bicycles, motorbikes and eventually making cars. They merged with Pizen Skodovka Co in 1925 and became ŠKODA. This impressive bronze Art Deco sculpture was produced at the ŠKODAWORKS Pilsen and was made for dignitaries and VIPs, not commercially for sa;e. It symbolized the production areas of this mechanical engineering group.

 

It emphasizes the images of machinery and mainly focuses on the Skoda logo which the woman is holding her arms and is also on the lower part of the sculpture base. There is great documentation on this symbol which became the logo or mascot for the car company. To learn more about the history of the Skoda car company there is a dedicated museum, click here to learn about the cars and their history.

 

skoda

 

 

From our research we have to consider the piece was originally designed by Otto Gutfreund, his most important work for Skoda was  used to adorn the roof of the Škoda Palace located in the Prague 1 district. The original sculpture was taken down in the 1960s by the communist regime and it, unfortunately, subsequently perished.

 

Skoda Palace

 

Skoda Palace

 

We also contacted the museum’s archive director and they could not confirm the exact origin of our bronze but also suggested it might have been done by Jaroslav Dittrich. Sculptor, chiseler, artistic-industrial artist, restorer. He worked in Prague, later in Pilsen.

 

Born on December 28, 1899, in Nýřany. He studied at the State Vocational School for Metal and Industrial Metal Processing in Hradec Králové (1922 – 23) and in 1926 – 33 at the School of Applied Arts in Prague. At first, he lived and worked in Prague as an industrial artist and restorer (eg a silver wrought crown for the Infant Jesus of Prague). He later moved to Pilsen, where he lived and worked until his death. For some time he worked here in the promotional department of Škoda Races. He restored Aleš’s sgraffito in Nerudova Street. Chisel work is also important, he created artistically and technically demanding  jewelry, medallions, etc. He died on November 10, 1974, in Pilsen.

 

The sculpture found its way to San Francisco and we can infer it was purchased through an antique dealer who had many items from the estate of Albert Bender.  Albert Bender was an international figure and considered a patron saint of the arts for the Bay Area.  It may have been given to him as a VIP during his many trips to Europe as he originally was from Dublin. You may have seen his name as the donor of artworks and rare books to Bay Area museums and libraries.  He was once called “the most active buyer—and donor—of the work of California artists the state had ever known.”  Stanford University has a Bender Room in its library, and at Mills College, there is one in the former library building. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has a large Albert M. Bender Collection.

 

 

 

Measurements

30″ T base is 9″ D x 9″ W

Price (USD)

$ Price not available
X
© Copyright Art Deco Collection. 2024 All rights reserved.