Carved Wooden German Rocking Bear -- Real or Reproduction?

[CranberryAntiques]

Greetings, community!

We happened to find this intriguing bear at a very exclusive estate sale. Let me just mention that we found an antique glass Steuben Green Aurene floor lamp shade right in the same vicinity of this bear which we ended up auctioning for over 4k. That is what makes us think that this may indeed be a legitimate find. We were unable to locate the item on p4a.com and very light information is available on Worthpoint / Etsy. Black Forrest or not?

Through our online research we have not seen very many examples and ways to identify authenticity on these bears, so hopefully someone with a deeper knowledge in this area may be able to weigh in on this finding.

The bear measures 12" in height, 23" in full length, and 8¼" in width. The reproductions we were able to locate have been significantly smaller in size. Very intricate hand carved details with a tole design on the seat.

Thank you for your time, and we appreciate any direction we can get on this one!

Kind Regards,
Jeff & Joyce

 

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[Subterranean]

Welcome to TreasureNet! Your bear is beautiful. I would look at what fastens the wood together, i.e., screws, bolts, or dowels first. The old straight-slotted wood screws, four sided nuts and bolts, and obsolete finishes would tend to indicate an older manufacture, as well as the type of paint. Are the "eyeballs" glass or plastic. I would imagine that antique pieces have glass eyeballs. A local taxidermist could help you with that. I am sure that expert craftspersons will chime in soon with their opinions on this piece. Happy hunting, Sub

 

[nhbenz]

This has actually come up here before, but I missed the subject last time: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/331003-vintage-wooden-rocking-bear.html
In my opinion, though I'm no expert, I think the detail is still a ways away from the originals (actually made in Switzerland, rather than Germany as used to be thought). Note the detail on the example on the cover of this book, which might be worth picking up;
Swiss Carvings | Art of the Black Forest - Jay Arenski, Simon Daniels, Michael Daniels - 9781851494934 | Antique Collectors Club US

 

[CranberryAntiques]

Thanks for the feedback. The eyes do appear to be glass. This one is tough to judge for certain, so we may just have to hold on to it for a while until we feel comfortable in pricing it. Thanks for pointing out that previous thread as well, we did find it during our research but were still unsure as this bear is substantially larger and different than the reproduction as well as the cited original. Also, thanks for that link to the Swiss Carvings book. We may have to end up getting that one to add to our references.

The bear is kind of growing on us so I am sure we can display it somewhere around the house for the time being. It has an almost unsettling vibe to it being that it is a viscous snarling bear contrasted by the tame theme of a child's rocking horse.