Black Forest Carved Stag's Head Wall Shelf, Swiss, Ca. 1880

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Black forest carved wall shelf in Lindenwood, with a central carved stag on a shaped plaque with carved oak leaves … Read more Black forest carved wall shelf in Lindenwood, with a central carved stag on a shaped plaque with carved oak leaves and tassels, below a shaped and molded shelf, Brienz, Switzerland, ca. 1880.
Jay Arenski, et al, quotes Swiss Poet Heinrich Federer, who said in his memoirs, "Woodcarving brought riches to the village [of Brienz]. It became all the fashion and no Englishman left the Bernese Highlands without having seen the Giessbach, having eaten a fat roasted eel, and having bought a Brienz woodcarving." Arenski goes on to say, "Thus, as the tourist industry flourished and thrived, so did the carvers, selling their wares to the well-heeled visitors."
This fashion had been set in motion by Queen Victoria's visit to the area in April 1868, and by her subsequent inspiration to build a Swiss chalet at Osborne House and fill it with Black Forest Swiss carvings (see footnote).
Book reference:
Jay Areneski, Simon Daniels and Michael Daniels, Swiss Carvings: The Art of the 'Black Forest' 1820-1940, Suffolk, UK: Antique Collectors' Club, Publishers, 2005, pp. 13-14. See less