Blacksmith, Bronze - Franz Iffland

Blacksmith, bronze covered with a brown patina mounted on a marble base, Franz Iffland (1862-1935), signed, stamp of the Kraas foundry in Berlin. Base dimensions: H. 8 x L. 12 x D. 10; subject: H. 35 x W. 12 x P. 11; total: H. 43 x L. 13 x D. 11.5 cm. Franz Iffland (1862-1935) was a German sculptor and painter who worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1862 in Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia. Most of his sculptures were influenced by the Jugendstil movement, but towards the end of his career, from the mid-20th century, he made a number of art deco sculptures. Iffland died in Berlin, Nazi Germany, in 1935. Iffland received his formal training at the Königliche akademische Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste. He was best known for his small bronze statues of young children and his bust sculptures of young women. He was also a painter, but sculpture dominated his production during his career. The majority of his works were made during the art nouveau or "jugendstil" period of 1887-1910, but towards the end of his career he produced a number of art deco bronzes of nude women and statues of kind of ordinary workers like blacksmiths and farmers. Otto Schmidt-Hofer is one of the contemporaries of Iffland, who worked around the same time as Iffland in Berlin and made sculptures of a similar type. Iffland also executed a few animal sculptures and statues of sports figures of archers, javelin throwers and polo players. He presented his bronze works at the Große Berliner Kunstaustellung (Great Berlin Art Exhibition) in 1893. The Offland generally applied dark brown patinas to his small bronzes, but often chose to apply a more elaborate patina to pieces. larger works for display in art fairs. A number of his most important statues featured gilded patinas in real 24k gold. Iffland employed several foundries to cast his bronzes, including the Kraas Foundry in Berlin. Many of his sculptures bear the mark of the Kraas foundry.