Among the subjects that defined Walter Mader's reputation as the pre-eminent dog carver of the Brienz school, none was more celebrated or more frequently sought by his international clientele than the hound with pups — a composition that allowed him to demonstrate simultaneously his command of the adult animal and his ability to render, with equal conviction, the quite different anatomy, texture, and character of the young dog at various stages of alertness and repose. The finest examples of this subject by Mader are recognised immediately by specialists: the quality of fur carving, the sensitivity of the facial modeling, and above all the quality of psychological observation — the sense that each animal in the group has been watched and understood before it was carved.
The present group is a masterwork of the form. The mother — a long-coated gundog of the setter or retriever type — lies at ease on a carved mat base, her head turned slightly in a posture of relaxed alertness, her collar and ring carved with the same precision as every other detail of the piece. Around her, three pups are disposed with the natural informality of the nursery: one has climbed onto her back and surveys the world from this elevated position with the confidence of youth; two more are nestled at her chest and flank, their smaller bodies conveying the rounded, slightly unformed quality of the very young animal with a fidelity that speaks to direct observation. Each pup is individually characterised — the climber alert and curious, the nestled pair content and absorbed — and each is carved to the same standard as the mother, without the diminution of quality that lesser carvers allowed themselves in the subsidiary figures of a composition.
The fur throughout is worked in the deeply incised, rhythmic manner of Mader's finest dog work — the direction and depth of the cuts varying between the longer coat of the mother's flanks and ears, the shorter fur of her muzzle, and the different, softer texture of the pups' coats. The mother's face carries the calm, self-possessed expression of an animal entirely at ease with her circumstances — the expression of a dog who has been observed, not imagined.
The base is carved to simulate a woven rush mat or hay-covered stable floor, the texture rendered in the characteristic parallel striations of the Brienz workshops, with a moulded rectangular stepped surround that provides a resolved and architecturally considered platform for the group. The whole composition — the disposition of the figures, the quality of the individual characterisation, the resolution of the base — is that of a carver working at the height of his powers.
As discussed in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Walter Mader's dog groups represent the pinnacle of the Brienz animal carving tradition — works produced for an international clientele of the highest discernment and recognised today as among the most artistically refined objects the tradition produced.
Carver: Walter Mader, Brienz, Switzerland (attributed) Dimensions: [INSERT: H × L × W] Circa: 1870
Condition: Very good. Wood structurally sound throughout — no cracks or losses. Mother figure fully intact — collar and ring, fur carving, facial detail, and paws all crisp and complete. All three pups present and structurally sound — fur carving and facial detail intact on each figure. Carved mat base with parallel straw/rush texture intact throughout. Moulded stepped surround structurally sound. Rich, warm patina consistent with age and Mader workshop production.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006
Among the subjects that defined Walter Mader's reputation as the pre-eminent dog carver of the Brienz school, none was more celebrated or more frequently sought by his international clientele than the hound with pups — a composition that allowed him to demonstrate simultaneously his command of the adult animal and his ability to render, with equal conviction, the quite different anatomy, texture, and character of the young dog at various stages of alertness and repose. The finest examples of this subject by Mader are recognised immediately by specialists: the quality of fur carving, the sensitivity of the facial modeling, and above all the quality of psychological observation — the sense that each animal in the group has been watched and understood before it was carved.
The present group is a masterwork of the form. The mother — a long-coated gundog of the setter or retriever type — lies at ease on a carved mat base, her head turned slightly in a posture of relaxed alertness, her collar and ring carved with the same precision as every other detail of the piece. Around her, three pups are disposed with the natural informality of the nursery: one has climbed onto her back and surveys the world from this elevated position with the confidence of youth; two more are nestled at her chest and flank, their smaller bodies conveying the rounded, slightly unformed quality of the very young animal with a fidelity that speaks to direct observation. Each pup is individually characterised — the climber alert and curious, the nestled pair content and absorbed — and each is carved to the same standard as the mother, without the diminution of quality that lesser carvers allowed themselves in the subsidiary figures of a composition.
The fur throughout is worked in the deeply incised, rhythmic manner of Mader's finest dog work — the direction and depth of the cuts varying between the longer coat of the mother's flanks and ears, the shorter fur of her muzzle, and the different, softer texture of the pups' coats. The mother's face carries the calm, self-possessed expression of an animal entirely at ease with her circumstances — the expression of a dog who has been observed, not imagined.
The base is carved to simulate a woven rush mat or hay-covered stable floor, the texture rendered in the characteristic parallel striations of the Brienz workshops, with a moulded rectangular stepped surround that provides a resolved and architecturally considered platform for the group. The whole composition — the disposition of the figures, the quality of the individual characterisation, the resolution of the base — is that of a carver working at the height of his powers.
As discussed in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Walter Mader's dog groups represent the pinnacle of the Brienz animal carving tradition — works produced for an international clientele of the highest discernment and recognised today as among the most artistically refined objects the tradition produced.
Carver: Walter Mader, Brienz, Switzerland (attributed) Dimensions: [INSERT: H × L × W] Circa: 1870
Condition: Very good. Wood structurally sound throughout — no cracks or losses. Mother figure fully intact — collar and ring, fur carving, facial detail, and paws all crisp and complete. All three pups present and structurally sound — fur carving and facial detail intact on each figure. Carved mat base with parallel straw/rush texture intact throughout. Moulded stepped surround structurally sound. Rich, warm patina consistent with age and Mader workshop production.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006
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