Object Description
A finely carved late 19th century (circa 1890) Black Forest linden wood cattle group, stamped ‘J HUGGLER, BRIENZ’.
This superbly realistic carved group of cattle consists of a bull, cow and calf, the bull standing proudly on a rocky terrain, the cow attending to her calf all supported on naturalistic elliptical base with moulded edge and floral decoration to the front with ‘J HUGGLER, BRIENZ’ stamp to the back.
This carving is extremely realistic with superb detail of the fur, faces, legs and tails etc. – this being typical of Black Forest carved figures of this time and particularly those carved by Johann Huggler.
The Huggler family were one of a few families from Brienz in Switzerland who produced these types of animal carvings.
They were undoubtedly thought of as the most celebrated carvers from the area producing five generations of excellent carvers beginning with Kaspar Huggler (1806-1846) and later Johann Huggler (1834-1912) who was known as the ‘Carving King’ as he was considered the most important carver of the time.
Johann exhibited his carvings at various International Fairs of the time including the Chicago World’s Fair (1893), Paris Exhibition (1900) and St. Louis World’s Fair (1904).
The small village of Brienz in The Swiss Alps is renowned for superbly and finely carved linden wood figures of farm and domestic animals that integrated into Swiss life such as the cow as well as many other types of carvings. Even today the cow is a common sight in gardens and yards throughout Switzerland.
The carvings from the Brienz region were known for being superbly naturalistic and realistic with wonderful depiction of fur, feathers etc. and being carved from one piece of wood, usually lime or linden wood.
Reference: very similar carvings attributed to Johann Huggler can be found in the book ‘Swiss Carvings – The Art of the ‘Black Forest 1820-1940’’ by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels and Michael Daniels – pages 55, 83-85.
This Black Forest carving is in very good condition for age and can go straight into a home or collection.
Size:
Height: 13” / 33cm
Width: 17.5” / 44.5cm
Depth: 11” / 28cm