Black Forest Hunting Rabbit Whip Hook/Holder

This is my lovely Bunny. Sadly she is a bit damaged - but still beautiful none the less. I have a mad passion for whip hooks, and own a few now. The rabbits are my favourites. I tell myself they are dog related in that these gorgeous objects are a great place to hang your dog's lead...

A bit about Whip Hooks
In the Sixteenth Century German Artisans used wood and horns together to make Leuchterweibchen - carved and painted figures with horns as their tails, see fig 1.

fig 1.

They were used for Chandeliers and decorations. The earliest Whip Hooks took this form, see fig 2.

fig 2.

Although the most common and popular Whip hooks are the late Victorian ones that take the form of animals.
These Whip holders were made, clearly, to hold whips, one could lay a whip or crop across the horns, or coil the whip around them.
Most of the animal subjects are hunted animals, rabbits, foxes, bears, wolves, with the hunted becoming the hunter, dressed in jacket and breeches and carrying a gun.
Human figures were mainly Hunters, Woodsmen or fairytale Dwarves, Gnomes and Elves.
Some whip holders have musical boxes incorporated and can play a variety of tunes when activated by hanging up ones whip. There were 3 main sizes of whip hook made.
The horns that were used for the hooks were that of the Chamois, a goat-antelope species that lives in the Alps, see fig 3.

fig 3.

Sometimes, other horns were used and also sometimes the horns were actually carved. The most popular wood used was Linden wood, Walnut, and lesser ones in Pine.
Even though most of the Whip Holders were made in Switzerland, the home to the best Black Forest carvers, some were also made in Germany, France and Austria.

Although some Whip Holders were mass produced, mass produced in Victorian times still meant being made by a team of highly skilled carvers, and each piece would still vary and be unique, despite being made to a particular design that would have been advertised in the manufacturers catalogue at that time.

Whip Hooks/Holders are very rare and collectible now, with the animals dressed as hunters being particularly desirable, although the skill of the carver, the pose and the face are all very key factors.
Labels and signatures on the back of the piece are very desirable as well, see fig 4.

fig 4.



Happy Hunting!

Black Forest Hunting Dog Clock

I bought this lovely piece today.

For many years 'Black Forest' carvings were thought to have been produced in the Bavarian Black Forest, in Germany, but it has now been established beyond all doubt that they were the sole province of the Swiss. The wood carving industry of Switzerland originated in the picturesque town of Brienz. From humble beginnings as a cottage industry in the early 1800s it grew, by the turn of the twentieth century, to become the industrial driving force of a whole community. By 1910 there were some thirteen hundred carvers plying their trade in the locality of Brienz. The carving industry was driven by the tourist industry; Brienz, Luzern, Interlaken and other such picturesque resorts were in vogue with the wealthy Victorians. Bears were particularly popular, being the symbol for the city of Berne, but musical boxes, musical chalets, furniture large and small, all figured in Swiss carving. The variety was immense, ranging from the religious, faithful reproductions of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" to the amusing and whimsical. Far from being 'mere whimsy' however, Swiss 'Black Forest' carvings were exhibited at the London Great Exhibition of 1851, Chicago 1893, Paris 1900 and at many of the other great international exhibitions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Carved wooden bears, stags, furniture and works of art from the Swiss 'Black Forest' carvers stood alongside such great exhibitors of the time as Tiffany, Galle and Linke. 'Black Forest' carvings were appreciated as truly great works of art at the time of their creation and indeed enjoyed royal patronage. Today there has been a tremendous revival in interest and the best pieces are highly sought after.
From -The Art Of The Black Forest - by Simon Daniels

English Majolica Pug Dog Jug circa 1880, modelled as a seated Pug, in shades of brown, pink interior. 10 1/2 " height.

Today I purchased "Toby" Punch and Judy's Dog, a Tony Wood Staffordshire Collectors Teapot, from the Tony Wood Studios, featuring Toby the Jack Russell terrier.
Although the company was formed in 1982, the Wood family had been potters since the mid-nineteenth century when Wood & Sons was formed by Thomas Francis Wood in 1865. The company was one of the leading ceramic manufacturers in Stoke-on-Trent, commonly known as The Potteries, and enjoyed huge success. In the 1970's, Wood and Sons introduced an extremely popular line of figurative products called Toby Jugs. However, following Wood and Sons takeover by Edmund Yorke in the early 1980's, Tony Wood went into partnership with Elizabeth Capper in 1982 and opened Tony Wood Studio 1982 Ltd. The company continued production of the old Toby Jugs but introduced a whole new range of jugs, which included figurative teapots. A fire at the company's factory in Fenton, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1984 halted production and the company never recovered. It went into receivership in 1991 and the company closed thus ending an association between the Woods family and The Potteries that had spanned over a hundred years.

Hi. My name is Evie. I am opening a new dog shop in South London at the end of the year. Such a long time to wait.... I will be selling dog related Antiques and Collectibles, my own range of collars, ethically produced dog blankets, coats and baskets. I am also hoping to get permission to run a small coffee shop in the very pretty back garden where dogs will also be welcome.

To kick off the blog I have 'Victorianised" some willing dog owners dogs. If you would like your dog immortalised as a Victorian gent, or lady please send  me a photo of your dog and I will post the image
in the Gallery section.

Email your pics to evies.house@gmail.com