Can Monkeys Play Chess?

By some curious coincidence, this month's post in the series Top eBay Chess Items by Price (March 2010), echoes last month's Flickr post, 'Interspecies Friendships' and Chess (July 2024). The July post started,

A good subtitle to that title would be 'Don't play chess with a monkey'.

The title of the eBay item shown below was 'Small Antique Early 20th C. Franz Bergman Vienna Bronze Monkeys Playing Chess'. It sold for 'US $695.00 Best offer accepted or Best Offer', where the number must have been close to the final selling price.

The description said,

Franz Xavier Bergman (Austrian, 1861-1936). • Size approx: 3-1/2 x 3 x 1-7/8 in. • Weight approx: 284 grams

You are bidding on a small antique early-20th century cold-painted bronze figure group of monkeys playing chess by renowned Vienna artist 'Franz Bergman'. Each figure is signed/marked/numbered as seen in photos.

Condition Report: Some surface wear, paint loss and one table leg with slight bend as shown, dirty/dusty from years of storage, needs cleaning.

The last time we saw Bergman on this blog was Cold Painted Cats (December 2022). That post included some biographical material.