A ‘Black Forest’ linden wood long case clock by Spring of Interlaken

A ‘Black Forest’ linden wood long case clock by Spring of Interlaken, the square silvered dial enclosed behind a glazed door within an ornate case, surmounted by a carving of William Tell and his son after the “Tell Monument” by Richard Kissling (1848-1919) and with the “Lion of Lucerne”, the motto “Helvetiorum Fidei Ac Virtuti (to the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss)” and the Swiss flag carved below.  With the original invoice from Kunstmobelfabrik H Spring of Interlaken.  Swiss, probably Brienz, circa 1927.

Provenance: Mr N A Seear, Porch Lodge, Granville Road, Southfields, London, SW 18.

Footnote:  For many years carved wooden pieces such as this clock were wrongly thought to have come from the Black Forest in Germany.  However, we now know that a wide variety of carvings were actually produced in the Swiss Alps as extensively researched by Arenski, Daniels and Daniels.  Chapter 8 in their publication ‘Swiss Carvings, The Art of the ‘Black Forest’ 1820-1940’ Woodbridge 2005 is dedicated to clocks with pages 153 to 156 showing nine examples.  The drawing and a photograph of the Lion of Lucerne can be found on page, 98, plates 146-147, while the William Tell, sculpture photographed on page 53 (plate 256), was exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1900 by Ed. Binder & Co.