- Auction House: Auctions Neapolitan
- Circa: 1900
- Size: 39"
- Auction Date: January 2010
- Pre-Auction Estimate: $6,000-$8,000
- Auction Price: $30,500*
From Auctions Neapolitan:
The winning bidder, a major collector of Black Forest art for the past 30 years, participated by phone from his home in Colorado. "This was an incredibly rare piece, in beautiful condition," the buyer remarked after the sale. "There’s a larger one in the museum in Brienz, Switzerland – the town where 2,000 carvers lived at the turn of the century – and there are two others in separate private collections in Paris. The two owners in Paris have stated that they will die with their pieces, so those examples are completely off the market."
The buyer added: "Walter Mader’s only subjects were dogs – he didn't carve anything else. Even though he never signed his work, it's unmistakable. When you see the expression on the dogs' faces and the flow of the carving, you know exactly who carved it."
The word spread quickly about the St. Bernard grouping in Auctions Neapolitan's sale, the buyer said. "My uncle called me from the Miami Beach Antique Show, which was taking place around the same time as the auction, and said there were many dealers aware of it and talking about it. You’d be amazed how many calls I got from fellow collectors, asking my opinion about its authenticity. I feel that even at the price I paid, I got a very good buy."
Other lots in the auction included:
- A 19th-century Anglo-Indian wood box decorated with porcupine quills, ivory, bone and horn selling for $862.50.
- A Lalique Cote d'Or charger of clear and frosted glass, decorated with three nude nymphs known as Trois Figurines et Raisins, selling for $1,782.50.
- A 1780 circa Imari bowl (8" diameter) decorated in underglaze red and blue with gilded highlights sold for $825.
