Despite being called a ‘Black Forest’ carving, this late 19th century figure by Johann Huggler of Brienz, of a poacher with dead deer, gun and a dog at his feet, the base carved with rabbits and birds, was actually produced in Switzerland rather than Bavaria.
It is estimated
at £1500-2500 in the
Sworders of Stansted
Mountfitchet, Essex, country house sale of October 23.
The 3ft 1½in (95cm)
high figure is thought to show Huggler himself. He was renowned
locally as a poacher and the carving was a joke at the expense of
the local gamekeepers.
The wood-carving
industry of Switzerland originated in the picturesque town of
Brienz. From humble beginnings of a cottage industry in the early
1800s it grew by the turn of the 20th century to become the
industrial driving force of a whole community. By 1910 there were
some 1300 carvers plying their trade.
Tel: 01279
817778.
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