A patinated brass study of an elephant complete with tusks, tied to a post by its hind leg.  The piece has a real spirit to it, and lends the viewer to share some empathy with the beast, and its struggle for freedom.  The piece is made in the  Werkstätte Hagenauer which was a Viennese metal manufacturer started by Carl Hagenauer in 1898, and succeeded by his sons Karl and Franz Hagenauer. Between these two key figures they were responsible for some of the best designed objects ever to come out of Europe in the 20th Century.   Not only did they design and produce stunning pieces, they also developed new techniques of finishing metals.  This elephant is an example of this.  The brass base metal was 'cooked' for a few minutes in a mixture of chemicals that caused oxidation on the surface.  Depending on its duration, the finish changed to brown through to deep black. Some of the designs were later polished in a few places, for the brass to shine through, as can be seen on the  elephant's tusks  here. This procedure created a new design element, allowing two colours on the same object. Karl Hagenauer introduced this technique at a Viennese fair, but within months it was copied by other manufacturers of brass figures.  The elephant is fully marked on the base, and dates circa 1950's.