Adam's Country House Collections 12th & 13th October 2020

127 Country House Collections|12 th & 13 th October 2020 446 A LARGE SWISS ‘BLACK FOREST’ CARVED LINDEN WOOD BEAR HALL/UMBRELLA STAND, 19TH CENTURY, the standing bear holding a woven basket of conical shape, raised on a naturalistically carved log platform. 130cm high x 63cm wide The Art of the ‘Black Forest’ was exhibited and celebrated on the greatest world stages of the 19th Century - the Great Exhibition of 1851, Chicago 1893 and the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900, however, the origin of ‘Black Forest’ carving was a far cry from the glitz and the glamour of the Crystal Palace. The wood carving industry in Switzerland originated in the scenic town of Brienz at a time when the area was facing much adversity. The early 1800s brought famine and suffering to the local people forcing those that had not fled the area to seek out alternative means of income in order to support their families. With few other options available to them, some turned their hand to wood carving. Despite, the hardship the people of Brienz were faced with, this did not deter wealthy aristocratic British families from traveling to the pictur - esque town to enjoy the beautiful scenery it had to offer. These carvings produced by the people of Brienz proved extremely popular amongst tourists, and so a thriving wood carving industry began to flourish. Swiss poet Heinrich Federer noted in his memoirs the role of wood carving in the transformation of the area “Woodcarving brought riches to the village [of Brienz]. It became all the fashion and no Englishman left the Bernese highlands without having seen the Giessbach [waterfall], having eaten a fat roasted eel and having bought a Brienz woodcarving.” Federer’s reference to ‘Brienz woodcarving’ highlights the misattribution of Swiss carving to that of the Bavarian Black Forest, in Germany. Historians have traced this misnomer back to the latter part of the 19th Century when Swiss clock movements were exported to Germany and fitted in Bavarian cuckoo clocks. When Swiss carvers began to produce their own clocks, they were mistaken for those made in Germany as the carving closely resembled the design of the Bavarian examples and so became widely known as ‘Black Forest’. The variety of carvings produced by the ‘Black Forest’ Swiss carvers is vast ranging from small curiosities to life-size bears. Carvers were inspired by outdoor pursuits and wildlife associated with Switzerland. Each hand-carved piece is unique however they are steeped in tradition and carry the styles and tech- niques developed through generations of families. Adherence to family tradition and methods were not taken lightly as shown by one particular carver, Adolf Mӓder who refused to comply with the brief for a piece commissioned by Eduard Jobin, one of the largest retailers at the time. Jobin had commissioned a true pair of bears, one with its face turned to the right and the other to the left. Mӓder refused, and insisted on carving both bears turned to the left, just has his father had done before him. Although animals of all shapes and sizes were subjects of the carvers work, bears were particularly popular as the bear is the symbol of the city of Berne - represented on the city’s Coat of Arms. Alongside this it is likely that carvers thought it prudent to appeal to their best main con- sumers and to strive to meet their desires. They were designing pieces for wealthy Victorian visitors to decorate their Swiss hunting lodges with and created smaller pieces that were easy to transport so tourists could bring them back home as impressive souvenirs. Carvers strove to produce the most life-like creations, those who achieved this were seen as masters of their craft. Large bears like the example in this sale, were generally made from linden wood. These trees grow to immense sizes, they were plentiful throughout Switzerland and the wood is not too hard making it easy to carve. Life-size carvings of quality bears are rare given the time involved in carving and the cost of large pieces of timber. € 5,000 - 7,000 Day II LIVE AUCTION: Tuesday 13 th October 2020 starting at 11am