There are two bear clocks in the Swiss Black Forest canon, and they are not the same object twice. The clock in which bears animate a rocky alpine outcrop is one conception — theatrical, comic, the bears as performers upon a stage. The clock in which the bear himself becomes the mountain — in which the great standing animal is the structural and compositional centre, the tree his axis, and the cubs his ornament — is another conception entirely, and a more ambitious one. In the present clock, the carver has chosen the more difficult path: the bear does not merely inhabit the composition, he constitutes it. Everything else — the cubs, the tree, the clock face — is disposed around him, and it is his mass and presence that gives the whole its authority.
The composition rises from a shaped oval naturalistic base to a height that commands any room in which it is placed. The dominant figure — a large bear standing on his hind legs, his body forming the central trunk of the composition — is carved with exceptional naturalistic force. The fur is worked in sweeping, deeply undercut planes, darker and more dramatically rendered than the lighter Brienz production, the overall patina having deepened over a century and a half into an almost bronze-like depth of tone that gives the piece a sculptural gravity approaching that of cast metal. The face of the large bear — seen in close-up in the detail photographs — is a masterwork of the carver's art: the amber glass eyes, set deep beneath the brow, carry a quality of focused, slightly wary intelligence that is far from the conventional bear of the decorative tradition. This animal has been observed.
Around and above the central bear, the tree structure rises — the trunk and branches providing the armature for a programme of climbing cubs that animates the upper composition with a contrasting energy of movement and play. Two cubs engage at the upper level — one grasping a branch, one reaching — while further bears are disposed on the mid-level, each individually posed and individually characterised. The clock face is set into the tree structure at the centre of the composition — a circular face with Arabic numerals on a black chapter ring, brass hands with decorative gilt work, and an original brass bezel — the eight-day striking movement housed within the body of the carved tree. A further bear appears at the lower right of the composition, climbing the base of the tree with the concentrated effort of an animal engaged entirely in its own purpose.
The present clock is illustrated in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels at page 160 — the definitive reference work on the tradition — confirming its status as one of the documented masterworks of the Swiss Black Forest clock-making and carving tradition.
Movement: Eight-day striking movement, original Dial: Arabic numeral chapter ring, black ground, brass hands, original brass bezel Circa: 1870–1880
Condition: Very good overall. Linden wood structurally sound throughout. Central standing bear fully intact — fur carving, facial detail, and amber glass eyes all present and in excellent condition. All subsidiary bear figures structurally sound — ears, paws, and extremities intact throughout. Tree structure and branch elements intact. Clock face present with original Arabic numeral chapter ring and brass hands. Eight-day striking movement present. Original brass bezel present. Deep, dark patina consistent with age and of exceptional richness.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006, p.
There are two bear clocks in the Swiss Black Forest canon, and they are not the same object twice. The clock in which bears animate a rocky alpine outcrop is one conception — theatrical, comic, the bears as performers upon a stage. The clock in which the bear himself becomes the mountain — in which the great standing animal is the structural and compositional centre, the tree his axis, and the cubs his ornament — is another conception entirely, and a more ambitious one. In the present clock, the carver has chosen the more difficult path: the bear does not merely inhabit the composition, he constitutes it. Everything else — the cubs, the tree, the clock face — is disposed around him, and it is his mass and presence that gives the whole its authority.
The composition rises from a shaped oval naturalistic base to a height that commands any room in which it is placed. The dominant figure — a large bear standing on his hind legs, his body forming the central trunk of the composition — is carved with exceptional naturalistic force. The fur is worked in sweeping, deeply undercut planes, darker and more dramatically rendered than the lighter Brienz production, the overall patina having deepened over a century and a half into an almost bronze-like depth of tone that gives the piece a sculptural gravity approaching that of cast metal. The face of the large bear — seen in close-up in the detail photographs — is a masterwork of the carver's art: the amber glass eyes, set deep beneath the brow, carry a quality of focused, slightly wary intelligence that is far from the conventional bear of the decorative tradition. This animal has been observed.
Around and above the central bear, the tree structure rises — the trunk and branches providing the armature for a programme of climbing cubs that animates the upper composition with a contrasting energy of movement and play. Two cubs engage at the upper level — one grasping a branch, one reaching — while further bears are disposed on the mid-level, each individually posed and individually characterised. The clock face is set into the tree structure at the centre of the composition — a circular face with Arabic numerals on a black chapter ring, brass hands with decorative gilt work, and an original brass bezel — the eight-day striking movement housed within the body of the carved tree. A further bear appears at the lower right of the composition, climbing the base of the tree with the concentrated effort of an animal engaged entirely in its own purpose.
The present clock is illustrated in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels at page 160 — the definitive reference work on the tradition — confirming its status as one of the documented masterworks of the Swiss Black Forest clock-making and carving tradition.
Movement: Eight-day striking movement, original Dial: Arabic numeral chapter ring, black ground, brass hands, original brass bezel Circa: 1870–1880
Condition: Very good overall. Linden wood structurally sound throughout. Central standing bear fully intact — fur carving, facial detail, and amber glass eyes all present and in excellent condition. All subsidiary bear figures structurally sound — ears, paws, and extremities intact throughout. Tree structure and branch elements intact. Clock face present with original Arabic numeral chapter ring and brass hands. Eight-day striking movement present. Original brass bezel present. Deep, dark patina consistent with age and of exceptional richness.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006, p.
Image 1 of 9
Image 2 of 9
Image 3 of 9
Image 4 of 9
Image 5 of 9
Image 6 of 9
Image 7 of 9
Image 8 of 9
Image 9 of 9
