A powerful and technically accomplished sculptural group from the golden age of Swiss Black Forest carving — two wild boar startled into sudden flight, one leaping across the back of the other in a single explosive instant, carved in walnut at Brienz, Switzerland, and dated 1870.
The composition captures the precise moment of alarm: the lower animal lunges forward with forelegs extended and head thrust low to the ground, while the second boar vaults across its back, unable to stop or turn. The arrangement is compact yet charged with energy, the two figures locked together in motion and conveying, with remarkable economy, the raw urgency of these animals in flight.
The carving throughout is of the highest order. Each bristled coat is articulated through dense, directional toolwork — thousands of individual marks that describe the coarse, layered hair and the shifting musculature beneath. The facial details are precisely rendered: tusks, alert eyes, and flared snouts all sharply defined and full of expression. Depth varies deliberately across the surfaces, producing the strong contrasts of light and shadow that animate the composition and reward close examination.
The figures are mounted on an integrally carved naturalistic base of forest undergrowth — stones, moss, and ground cover — situating the scene within its habitat with the same attention to observed detail applied to the animals themselves. The warm walnut patina deepens the relief and brings out the full range of the carver's surface treatment.
The year 1870 places this work at the height of the Swiss wood-carving industry's international reputation. The craftsmen of Brienz — above all firms such as Huggler and Binder — had by this period achieved recognition across Europe and America, their work shown at the great international exhibitions and world's fairs and acquired by collectors of discernment on both continents. Animal subjects of this naturalistic ambition, requiring sustained observation and exceptional technical command, represented the apex of the tradition.
A group of this quality, scale, and condition — bearing a clear date and embodying everything that made Brienz carving celebrated — is rare on the market.
Condition: Very good overall. The walnut retains a rich original patina throughout. Surface carving complete and crisply preserved, with no restorations or repairs noted. Minor wear consistent with age and honest use.
Dimensions: 14”width x 12”height x 5”Depth
Literature: Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 (2006).
A powerful and technically accomplished sculptural group from the golden age of Swiss Black Forest carving — two wild boar startled into sudden flight, one leaping across the back of the other in a single explosive instant, carved in walnut at Brienz, Switzerland, and dated 1870.
The composition captures the precise moment of alarm: the lower animal lunges forward with forelegs extended and head thrust low to the ground, while the second boar vaults across its back, unable to stop or turn. The arrangement is compact yet charged with energy, the two figures locked together in motion and conveying, with remarkable economy, the raw urgency of these animals in flight.
The carving throughout is of the highest order. Each bristled coat is articulated through dense, directional toolwork — thousands of individual marks that describe the coarse, layered hair and the shifting musculature beneath. The facial details are precisely rendered: tusks, alert eyes, and flared snouts all sharply defined and full of expression. Depth varies deliberately across the surfaces, producing the strong contrasts of light and shadow that animate the composition and reward close examination.
The figures are mounted on an integrally carved naturalistic base of forest undergrowth — stones, moss, and ground cover — situating the scene within its habitat with the same attention to observed detail applied to the animals themselves. The warm walnut patina deepens the relief and brings out the full range of the carver's surface treatment.
The year 1870 places this work at the height of the Swiss wood-carving industry's international reputation. The craftsmen of Brienz — above all firms such as Huggler and Binder — had by this period achieved recognition across Europe and America, their work shown at the great international exhibitions and world's fairs and acquired by collectors of discernment on both continents. Animal subjects of this naturalistic ambition, requiring sustained observation and exceptional technical command, represented the apex of the tradition.
A group of this quality, scale, and condition — bearing a clear date and embodying everything that made Brienz carving celebrated — is rare on the market.
Condition: Very good overall. The walnut retains a rich original patina throughout. Surface carving complete and crisply preserved, with no restorations or repairs noted. Minor wear consistent with age and honest use.
Dimensions: 14”width x 12”height x 5”Depth
Literature: Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 (2006).
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