MacDougall Auctions 12-18 June 2008
12 June 2008
103. POERTZEL, OTTO 1876-1963
Butterfly Dancers stamped on the base "Proerïtzell".
Cold-painted silver bronze and carved ivory, on an onyx base, 42 by 29.5 by 10.5 cm.
50,000-70,000
Provenance: Private collection.
Literature: Alberto Shayo, Ferdinand Preiss, Art Deco Sculptor. The Fire and the Flame, Antique Collectors' Club, China, 2005, p. 161 illustrated.
Victor Arwas, Art Deco Sculpture: Chryselephantine Statuettes of the Twenties and Thirties, Academy Edition, London, 1975, p. 90 illustrated.
Brian Catley, Art Deco and other Figures, Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1978, p. 281 illustrated.
Art Deco Sculpture: from Root to Flourishing, Vol 2, Russian House Art Deco, 2008-2009.
The sculpture Butterfly dancers embodies representation of Weimar Berlin’s night life. The blinding strip lights, bright sparkling costumes and delicate bodies of ‘weightless’ dancers were all available to visitors to the night spots of the 1920s. The title of the sculpture refers to the dancers’ bodies which take on a butterfly-like lightness and delicacy.
The popularised female form of the 1920s was that of an athletic adolescent, and women would bind their chests to make their figure that of an androgynous youth.
For more information please refer to printed catalogue
Notes on symbols:
* Indicates 5% Import Duty Charge applies.
Ω Indicates 20% Import Duty Charge applies.
§ Indicates Artist's Resale Right applies.
† Indicates Standard VAT scheme applies, and the rate of 20% VAT will be charged on both hammer price and premium.