VINTAGE PAUL HERZEL POMPEIAN BRONZE STATUE

These are very early examples; some have found others that were marked “1928”, so we believe this one to be even earlier as he is un-stamped.

These date from around 1920-1927.

Measures 3.5” Wide x 2.25” Deep x 7.5” Tall 

They have a deep, rich, lovely patina and thick art deco period paint. Others I have seen are faded but these are Rick in color. 

The Pompeian Bronze Works traces its history back to the Galvano Bronze Company, a New York City firm founded by Paul Mori around 1889.  Galvano Bronze was one of the first American commercial companies to use bronze electroplating and electro-forming.  Its earliest products were architectural elements.  The company introduced bookends into its product line in 1915.

In the early 1920s, the Galvano Bronze Company was sold to its employees and became The Pompeian Bronze Works.  Peter Manfredi, an employee, filed 27 book and lamp design copyrights with the U.S. Library of Congress Copyright Office in 1921.  The company continued using the bronze electroplating (bronze-clad) and electroforming using white-metal (often pewter) or spelter (zinc) to make ashtrays, bookends, and lamps.  In addition to a bronze finish, the company painted some of its products.  Scholars are not able to agree upon the end date for the company.  It appears that some of the Pompeian Bronze Company molds were acquired by the Marion Bronze Company

Pompeian, along with it’s contemporaries Marion, Armor and Galvano Bronze made bookends in the 1920’s through 1930’s by a method that was very time consuming and expensive that they have yet to be falsified or duplicated.

These pieces are highly prized by serious collectors.

They would dip a plaster mold into a galvanizing metal solution until bronze clad by long, metal wicks in the bases. When bronze clad, they cut off the wicks, leaving telltale depressions in the bottoms of the bases with the remnants of the wicks similar to this piece as shown in the photographs. A quality piece of American history that will only increase in value.

th