Black Forest Carvings More Than Cuckoo Clocks

As seen in The Antique Shoppe Newspaper, October 2009

In the early 20th century while there wasn't a chicken in every pot there was almost a cuckoo clock in many American homes. For the most part they have become an out-of-fashion relic. However, along with other carvings known as "Black Forest" or Brienzerware, examples have been coming to auction in the past three years. Prices at auction can range from $400 for a common cuckoo clock to as much as $10,000 for a detailed, carved decorated mantle clock. There is no end to the objects using black forest carvings. Even upholstered armchairs were framed with a variety of Black Forest motifs including trees and animals. Probably the most familiar examples use black bear subjects. They can be part of a chair or stand alone as a dramatic sculpture. I have seen several used at restaurant entrances holding a blackboard of the daily menus. They have been popular as decorative accessories in Western decor.

Sure to raise collector interest and prices is a new book on the subject, Black Forest Woodcarvings, by Peter Blackman, published by Schiffer Publishing.

Historically it began in the Swiss Alps village of Brienz. The first cuckoo clock dates back to the 1730s. There are many legends involving the invention of the cuckoo clock. Among them that it was first created by Franz Anton Ketterer, a clock-master from a small Black Forest village. He designed the system using small bellows and whistles that imitated the call of the cuckoo. Unlike the familiar cuckoo clock with elaborate carving it was simply a painted and wooden clock. It used a square board for the clock face and the     cuckoo was placed behind a  small door. 

Originally the works were wooden but replaced by metallic clockworks. 

Cuckoo clocks made in the 20^th century are known as the, “railway house clock”. It looks like a rustic birdhouse or chalet that can be decorated with everything from dancing couples to animals and leaves to painted scenes of showing life in the Black Forest. They are usually driven by a mechanical movement run be pine cone shaped weights. These weights have to be pulled up once a week or once a day depending on the model. The automaton cuckoo bird pops through a small trap door when the clock is striking and vanishes behind the door after the clock is through striking. 

CLUES: Black forest items and cuckoo clocks are still being made. The new ones are powered by quartz batteries. Alas the new cuckoos are plastic and used a recorded cuckoo call. They are still hand carved.

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