The fox and hare occupy a special place in the imaginative world of Swiss Black Forest carving — a pairing that recurs across the tradition in different guises and different moods, each iteration a fresh interpretation of a relationship that the Brienz carvers understood instinctively: the sly and the fleet, the predator and the prey, reimagined as companions in a world where the social conventions of the human drawing room have been extended, with perfect seriousness, to the inhabitants of the alpine forest. In the present group, the mood is one of elegant companionship — the fox as attentive escort, the hare as composed and slightly superior companion, both of them conducting themselves with the full dignity of persons of consequence.
The group is carved from a single block of linden wood, fully in the round, and depicts the fox standing upright beside the hare, holding aloft an open umbrella that arches over both figures in a gesture at once protective and courtly. The umbrella itself — its canopy fully open, the individual panels defined, the ribs articulated, and the handle and finial carved in complete detail — is among the most technically demanding elements in the entire repertoire of Swiss Black Forest carving. To carve an open umbrella from a single block, retaining the structural integrity of the canopy while achieving the thinness required for visual conviction, demands a combination of skill, confidence, and nerve that only the finest Brienz carvers possessed. The survival of the canopy intact, in this condition, after a century and a half, is itself a testament to the quality of the original carving.
The fox is dressed in a coat, his characteristic pointed face animated with an expression of pleased gallantry — the companion who is very aware of his own good manners. The hare stands beside him with the ease of a figure accustomed to being escorted, a walking stick in one paw, a satchel at his side, his long ears erect. Both figures carry accessories that are carved with the same precision and pleasure as the umbrella: the hare's stick, rendered as a complete and slender rod; the fox's pouch, the hare's satchel, each a miniature exercise in the carver's art. The fur of both animals is meticulously worked in the characteristic pebbled and incised technique of the finest Brienz production, the texture varying between the different animals and between the different parts of each figure's body.
The composition is notable for its confident verticality — the umbrella canopy providing a resolved and visually strong apex that draws the eye upward and gives the group an architectural presence unusual in pieces of this scale. The oval naturalistic base is carved with foliate detail consistent with the best workshop production of the period.
As illustrated in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels (p. 62), theatrical animal groups of this type represent one of the most celebrated and sought-after expressions of the Swiss carving tradition — works produced for an international clientele and exhibited at the great world's fairs of the period, where they brought the Brienz workshops international recognition and elite patronage. A group of this narrative sophistication and technical quality, with the umbrella canopy intact, is among the most desirable objects the tradition has to offer.
Material: Linden wood Circa: 1870
Condition: Very good. Linden wood structurally sound throughout with rich, warm patina. Umbrella canopy fully intact — all panels, ribs, finial, and handle present and structurally sound, a remarkable survival. Fox and hare figures fully intact — coat, accessories, fur texturing, and facial features all crisp and complete. Hare's walking stick present and intact. Fox's pouch and hare's satchel present. Oval naturalistic base with foliate detail intact throughout. An exceptionally well-preserved example.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006, p. 62
The fox and hare occupy a special place in the imaginative world of Swiss Black Forest carving — a pairing that recurs across the tradition in different guises and different moods, each iteration a fresh interpretation of a relationship that the Brienz carvers understood instinctively: the sly and the fleet, the predator and the prey, reimagined as companions in a world where the social conventions of the human drawing room have been extended, with perfect seriousness, to the inhabitants of the alpine forest. In the present group, the mood is one of elegant companionship — the fox as attentive escort, the hare as composed and slightly superior companion, both of them conducting themselves with the full dignity of persons of consequence.
The group is carved from a single block of linden wood, fully in the round, and depicts the fox standing upright beside the hare, holding aloft an open umbrella that arches over both figures in a gesture at once protective and courtly. The umbrella itself — its canopy fully open, the individual panels defined, the ribs articulated, and the handle and finial carved in complete detail — is among the most technically demanding elements in the entire repertoire of Swiss Black Forest carving. To carve an open umbrella from a single block, retaining the structural integrity of the canopy while achieving the thinness required for visual conviction, demands a combination of skill, confidence, and nerve that only the finest Brienz carvers possessed. The survival of the canopy intact, in this condition, after a century and a half, is itself a testament to the quality of the original carving.
The fox is dressed in a coat, his characteristic pointed face animated with an expression of pleased gallantry — the companion who is very aware of his own good manners. The hare stands beside him with the ease of a figure accustomed to being escorted, a walking stick in one paw, a satchel at his side, his long ears erect. Both figures carry accessories that are carved with the same precision and pleasure as the umbrella: the hare's stick, rendered as a complete and slender rod; the fox's pouch, the hare's satchel, each a miniature exercise in the carver's art. The fur of both animals is meticulously worked in the characteristic pebbled and incised technique of the finest Brienz production, the texture varying between the different animals and between the different parts of each figure's body.
The composition is notable for its confident verticality — the umbrella canopy providing a resolved and visually strong apex that draws the eye upward and gives the group an architectural presence unusual in pieces of this scale. The oval naturalistic base is carved with foliate detail consistent with the best workshop production of the period.
As illustrated in Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940 by Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels (p. 62), theatrical animal groups of this type represent one of the most celebrated and sought-after expressions of the Swiss carving tradition — works produced for an international clientele and exhibited at the great world's fairs of the period, where they brought the Brienz workshops international recognition and elite patronage. A group of this narrative sophistication and technical quality, with the umbrella canopy intact, is among the most desirable objects the tradition has to offer.
Material: Linden wood Circa: 1870
Condition: Very good. Linden wood structurally sound throughout with rich, warm patina. Umbrella canopy fully intact — all panels, ribs, finial, and handle present and structurally sound, a remarkable survival. Fox and hare figures fully intact — coat, accessories, fur texturing, and facial features all crisp and complete. Hare's walking stick present and intact. Fox's pouch and hare's satchel present. Oval naturalistic base with foliate detail intact throughout. An exceptionally well-preserved example.
Literature:
Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the Black Forest, 1820–1940, 2006, p. 62
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