jaeger decoration

[lew wetzel]

i have been going through some of my books looking for a grotesque face to carve into the cheek side of my jaeger and i have narrowed it down to these two...do these look right for a jaeger?

[Ephraim]

I like the first one it would fit just fine.
Ephraim

[Mike Brooks]

I wouldn't carve it into the cheek side, never seen something like that in that location. There are better locations for that kind of stuff, behind the tang, in front or in back of the  trigger guard  or at the rear of the rear RR pipe.

[Acer Saccharum]

I'm with Mike on the location.

Acer

[Lucky R A]

Lew, Put on the brakes, slow down and study some more original Jaegers.  If you can't afford the good book that Jim Chambers sells, at least get Shumway's book on Jaegers.   See where such type of embellishment is used and let that be your guide.   Don't try to "Nail it" in one week or month.   Look how long Acer has been working on his masterpiece.  Learn to enjoy the journey.   

[JCKelly]

I went once through Steinschloss-JaegerBuechsen  (don't ask me to spell that again) looking for grotesque mask carvings. Mostly what I saw were hunters, dogs, pretty ladies with their dogs, pigs, dogs arguing with pigs, and stag in various distressed conditions, plus the odd bird.
Great pictures, definitely worth getting if you intend to spend hours & hours on a Jaeger. Doesn't cost all that much more than a Jaeger lock from TOW, and much less than a rifled barrel.
Shumway's book shows guns more like a semi-normal human could have afforded, pictures not as useful for artwork details.
Didn't know Chambers had the German book, do see he has an English translation of text which I surely do need. Just got my Steinschloss-J book from germanguns.com, the German Gun Collectors Association, $156 total, well packed & shipped quickly. May need a little PT before I can readily lift this tome.

[Acer Saccharum]

I just saw an original jaeger with a grotesque at the Lewisburg show. The owner graciously invited me to come and photo, measure, fondle.  So, Chris, when I get pictures, I will let you know.

Do take your time, and develop a theme. Your gun will make a lot more sense if it has a common thread running through it. Most of these guns were produced by workshops, so the parts and tasks went to many specialists in the course of the build. You will see different skill levels as well as different 'hands' working on these guns. Sometimes the metalwork is drop dead gorgeous, yet the carving is very run-of-the-mill, or the fit up is poor, even tho' the components are very high quality.

One mistake I made on my jaeger, and a major one, is that I did not settle on a particular school when I started it. I pulled things I liked from here and there. Now that I have seen more originals and have the 'Stein' book, I would do it with more reverence for the tradition, try to follow a school more closely, yet still unleash the creative beast. As you know now, the sky is the limit as far as decorative elements, thematic, materials, etc, when it comes to jaegers. But do, if you wish to stay traditional, stay within a certain region or school.

[lew wetzel]

tom,i have thought of a theme.....vines and leaves......was thinking of doing the entire stock in vines with copper leaves.thats why i picked the two qrotesque faces because they have leaves...
  lucky,thanks for the sound advice....its hard for me to put on the brakes at times....i get so absorbed in what im doing...and it takes someone to remind me that it doesnt have to be done in a week or month....thank you....
  tom,look forward to seeing them pictures and i should do some more research....did you recieve the little present i sent you........

[Birddog6]

I suggest you find something else to carve on the rifle.  I can name on one hand the few people I know of that could carve that & make it look correct on a rifle. 
So unless you are Extremely good at carving, I suggest something simpler & easier to carve.  To me that would look much better engraved on a buttplate or sideplate, then carved into wood.  My thoughts are it is better not to carve  a well built rifle, then to have a poorly carved well built rifle, cause the end result not matter how well you built it, a poorly carved rifle is what you see....   And I know you build a well built rifle, as I have seen one of your rifles, so make the embellishments as good as your building skills..........

IMHO, the Shumway book of Jaegers, which is a copy of copies of copies,  of very poor photos, is/was a total waste of good paper.  Had it been published using fresh or original photos, it may have been worth of the publishers name.

However, the Chambers book of Jaegers, is the finest collection of great photos of Jaegers I have ever seen.  A person might one of any number of fine Jaegers in there so masterfully done, tone it down a bit & get somewhere within ones range of build, (unless you want to spend  10 years carving & engraving it) and have one H of a beaut rifle.  The Chambers Jaeger book was limited quantities, so don't know if there are any avail.  or not.  A quick call to them would tell ya.  Or possibly you could borrow one.

I also agree with the others, & suggest you stay within one school/style of rifle, and not pick things from dif rifles & put them together, as it ruins the flow of the rifle. 

[lew wetzel]

i just got back from the log cabin shop and i bought shumways book on jaegers....seems like a pretty decent book...

[Stophel]

The Shumway booklet/collection has a lot of regional errors, but it's good to see the guns. (The primary error is that the guns with the star are Rhine valley guns.  They are not.  The star is seen on guns from the Main River area from Franken to the Pfalz.  OK, the Rhine is in there obliquely, but not much of it.)

Keep your gun within region and within time period.  Grotesque masks are very baroque, and they were falling out of fashion through the 18th century.  Late 17th/early 18th for the really heavy Baroque elements like masks, putti, serpents, etc.