Featured German Box?

Hello guys,i have this box for years.Actually i ever appraised it some years ago,but i want to knew more about this box.So,the past owner said in the top of the box is roe's deer horn,what do you think?is it real horn?and anyone can tell me about what this box is and the date?it was appraised for 200-400$ 6 years ago,i wonder if the price is right?thank you guys!

 

Wow, that's one cool looking box.

In the last picture wasn't sure what is going on. Is that where the horn unscrews?

Can't help with value, but what a unique piece. To my eye looks like the horn is real, Germany certainly seems likely, but wait for others.

Love it!

 

The top ornament looks more like ram horn (a view of the cut-end would help), set on an antler burr, the piece on the front also appears to be deer antler...

~Cheryl

 

who made the appraisal ?
strictly JMHO.
the horn looks to be from a chamois.
my first reaction was Jura region, because a) there were chamois (and hunters) and b) there was a type of Jugendstil that was called "style sapin" and used fir cones quite a lot as adornments.

the Schwarzwald and then export to England via the influence of Albert is certainly another possibility.

 

i appraised it online actually.it was said the box was made with pyrographic style,and i bought it from german seller,it was belong to estate sale before.

 

Just out of curiosity (and with a general mistrust of most online appraisals), did the appraiser cite comparables in determining a value, did they explain their reasoning in specifying "roe's deer horn" for what appears to be horn rather than antler, or reference for the term "pyrographic style" since pyrography/pokerwork/woodburning is a technique rather than a style?

~Cheryl

 

I'm with Fid on the chamois horn on the lid. A dainty dark horn with an elegant curve is typical chamois. The other bits look like roe antler.

I think the box was made in the late 19th century in Brienz, in Switzerland. Brienz is where a lot of 'Black Forest' carvings were made, but they also made beautiful pyrography boxes. Brienz boxes often have those flat square feet that stick out a bit. And they combined carvings with horns and antlers. Being in an alpine region they had access to both chamois and roe.

It could be from the jura, but I know the term 'Style Sapin' as a name for a specific Swiss-French Art Nouveau style. It originated in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss part of the Jura region and is famed for the stylised designs of firs and other trees:



This book also explains 'Le Style Sapin' as an Art Nouveau style, which looks slightly different from the more realistic fir cones on the box. The box could possibly be a fore-runner of 'Le Style Sapin'.

http://www.somogy.fr/livre/le-style-sapin?ean=9782850569425

 

yes,i have the certificate,i'll post later

thanks AJ for such deep information,so do you think this can be late 19th century?the appraiser state this is come from 1920-1950s because the pine cone decoration style,what do you think?

 

The late 19th century was the heyday of the Brienzer carvings. They are still carving in Brienz, but I only know the combination with pyrography from the late 19th-early 20th century. The screws are later replacements, of course.

Did he say why he thought pine cone decorations were specifically 1920-1950s?

 

I've a little pyrography box somewhere that was my Pa's. Given to him, newish, from Bavaria in the 60s. Very similar, albeit sans horn.

 

they were made since the start of "mass-tourism".
which was 1860s in Switzerland - by the English mostly, therefore many "Hotel Victoria"
pwov'nce is all, to decide if Switzerland/France border region - style was known on both sides - or Germany.

 

actually he only said that pine cone was popular at that date,i'll post the certificate tonight

wish,i can see yours

so,germany will be the right place to where this item came from,right?

 

S Wolf is in Indonesia, the box was bought from a German seller:

 

Fid said Switzerland/France border region, where the style was known, or Germany, depending on the provenance.
But items like this seldom come with a provenance dating back to the original purchase. It would be from a mountainous region with chamois.

 

this is the online certificate that i got some years ago from online appraiser,but i think they are close the bussiness already

 

aha black forest,i think i remember that the seller once said about the black forest in its description

 

so what the right name for this box? swiss?french?germany or anglo saxony?

 

I can imagine that. It is extremely general, with some mistakes, and more explanation of pyrography than of the item in question.

My money is on Swiss, possibly just across the border to the neighbouring part of France. Borders are artificial things that have very little to do with language or culture.
Most likely made in or near the town of Brienz, imo.

The Black Forest is a region in Germany. Sellers call any European woodcarving of animals or plants Black Forest, but very few are actually made in the Black Forest.
Black Forest pieces are generally dark in colour, Swiss pieces are generally lighter in colour.

About Anglo-Saxon, Java was Anglo-Saxon during the rule of Raffles, early 19th century.
Oops, he was a Jamaican Scot. (Apologies to Jamaica and Scotland.)

 

I'll try and find it!