Late 1800s to earliest 1900s, likely a Grand Tour souvenir for someone visiting the glorious Black Forest regions of Switzerland, Edwardian era or slightly later. My paternal grandmother was born in Switzerland, and I guess it's just natural I'd be drawn to the carvings from "the old country", as she called it. An owl mates for life, and is a symbol of fidelity, wisdom, loyalty. This big-eyed horned owl with his orange glass eyes seems to represent all of those attributes.
Very good to excellent for age and type. Carved faithful to anatomy, he is undamaged over time. A couple of leaf tips with points gone, but nothing impacting the owl. The wooden carving is 6" tall and the inserted pressed glass flute or vase makes it a bit over 9" tall. What looks like a hairline crack on the upper part of glass insert is a press mark. It is not cut glass but is pressed into the facet form. It is also, seemingly, permanently mounted. I didn't put pressure, but it doesn't appear to come out. Charming old owl, isn't he!
