Bidspirit auction | August Gaul

August Gaul - August Gaul 1869 Großauheim - 1921 Berlin - Trumpeting Elephant - Bronze. Brown patinated. H. 41 cm. Signed and estate stamp on the plinth. Founder's mark: H. NOACK BERLIN FRIEDENAU. Design circa 1904/05. - Lit.: Gabler, Josephine. August Gaul. The Catalogue Raisonné of Sculptures. Berlin 2007. p. 119, no. 123. -Lit.: Angelo Walther, August Gaul, p. 65, no. 42. The combination of estate stamp and Friedenau signature, which was only used until 1945, indicates that the casting can be dated to the 1930s. The design was intended for the central figure of the fountain competition at Charlottenburg's Steinplatz on the occasion of the city of Charlottenburg's 200th anniversary, but unfortunately the fountain design was not realized. The animal sculpture was cast only after Gaul's death. The critic Singer wrote about the figure in the yearbook of fine arts of 1905/1906. ”In the center of the water basin stands the elephant, spouting water from its raised trunk. In a naturally wide arc, it sprays the jet into the air and the water splashes into the basin.”