Lot 216

Private Collection, Melbourne

For an identical example please see Elton John Volume III: Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Sotheby's London, 7 September 1988, lot 840.

Victor Arwas, Art Deco, London, 1980, p. 150
Victor Arwas, Art Deco Sculpture, London, 1992, p. 93

Gerda Iro Gottstein, known as 'Gerdago' was artistically trained in Berlin in 1927 and Paris in 1928 & 1929 and worked as an assistant to the architect Oskar Strnad. In the period of 1925 and 1930 'Gergado' designed numerous statuettes, the figures in predominantly dramatic postures wear bold costumes with often eccentric headgear and are usually decorated with colorful, cold-painted enamel and richly gilded. The Viennese foundry Artur Rubinstein made the Gerdago-signed objects after Gergado's drawings and designs. In the 1930s, her love of fashion manifested into designing costumes for the stage, where she was discovered by the director Willi Forst , who hired her for his early productions as a costume designer.


Please note that all lots marked with the symbol * are subject to CITES regulations when exporting these items outside of Australia. Information about these regulations may be found at www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/trade-use/cites/index.html or may be requested from:


The Director
International Wildlife Trade
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
GPO Box 787
CANBERRA ACT 2601