The ears on this wonderful German papier-mache donkey are made of soft felt attached to long springs, as are the saddle and the tail. It appears to have never been played with, as it is in excellent condition. Maybe the children were just content to give the head a push and watch it nod, as the weighted mechanism allows it to nod for an unusually long time, while the springs let the ears wildly flop back and forth.
0 Comments
Boys and girls alike enjoyed playing with Noah's Arks from the Erzgebirge region of Germany . . . but only on Sundays. In religious households in the 19th century, special toys like this were limited to being played with on the Sabbath. Today they are collected as true examples of folk art at its best. This has the complete set of eight figures of Noah and his family, with 200+ animals, birds and insects.
This German papier-mache squeak toy was indeed a present for a little boy. The handwritten label glued to the bottom says it was a gift to Elias Smith Noel when he was about five years old. It gives his birth date as May 1st, 1850, in Derry Township, Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, which dates the toy to 1855. Hard to believe these early toys were really meant to be played with because today they are only put on a shelf to be admired and handled carefully. So seldom to know the history of a piece.Any child would have been delighted to find this performing circus bear nodder with baby bear under their Christmas tree. Typical German construction with mohair over papier-mache body, collar and cap of silk trimmed with Dresden paper trim.
Every little boy needed a solider under their Christmas tree, and I guess it is amazing that any of these have survived. These are very early German crank toys (Klimperkaestchen), ca. 1840s, carved of wood with polychrome paint. Face on the left is carved; face on the right is molded with Brotteig (bread dough). They are made so that the arms move to beat the drums when the crank is turned.
This early train (ca. 1850) was made in the town of Olbernhau in the Erzgebirge region of Germany. As with so many fragile early pieces, not many of these have survived. The brightly colored train cars are made of hard paper with wooden wheels; the engine's smokestacks and even the "smoke" are also of wood. Passengers inside the cars are of papier-mache. I found the train stored in the beautiful early hand painted bentwood box, and although it is German as well, it comes from a different region in Germany than the train. I was fortunate to have been able to visit the Olbernhau town museum several years ago and was allowed to look through their two original sample books, hand sketched and hand painted, showing the various models of trains for sale in the 1850s, but not even the Olbernhau town museum had an original train to display in its cases. It no doubt was a most special toy for a little boy in its time.
Rats under the Christmas tree? Well, for these I would make an exception. This pair of life-size papier-mache rats would have been filled with candy and sweets for the children. The tails, the whiskers, the mouths, the beady eyes . . . no one but the Germans could create something as wonderful (yes, wonderful!) as these candy containers, ca. 1900-1910.
This Christmas season I thought I would count down the days to December 25th with toys that children from the 1850s to early 1900s might find under their Christmas trees on Christmas morning.
The cat nodder transforms the common, ordinary household pet into a figure full of charm and whimsy, which made German toys something all children had on their wish list from Santa. Outrageously long, spindly legs of wood hold the papier-mache human body wearing a shirt and short pants. The cat head balances on a stick of wood attached to a wire inserted inside the neck allowing the head to nod, looking ever so sweet with its little red cap. Such a toy would have been available in the early 1900s, but so very hard for collectors to find today. It became clear this summer that I had better get a shelf for the early German toys I had been so lucky to find this past winter and spring. Shortly after I wrote the post on my German rabbit "eater" I found another . . . this time an early black-faced eater, then another Sonneberg box (top left), and the others quickly followed. The cats on teeter totter squeak toy (bottom right) could well be my favorite. Their bodies are typical Erzgebirge with dangling wooden legs and homemade skirts out of extremely old fabric. When the bellows are squeezed, it moves up and down and squeaks. The figural man and woman in upturned top hats candy containers were offered to me by a German antiques dealer. They immediately appealed to me because of their obvious age and rarity of subject matter. Their torsos lift out of the top hats, which are the candy containers. The two-sided squeak toy (bottom left) is rare as it shows the faces of Max and Mortiz from the popular German children's book by Wilhelm Busch. This 9-inch high soldier on horseback was a particularly thrilling find, as it comes from Tom Gray's Winston-Salem toy museum which closed several years ago, the contents of which were sold at auction. I bought several pieces at the time of the auction, but this piece came on the market again recently and I recognized it as being from the toy museum. The head nods, and the front legs move up and down as well. There's an inscription on the bottom in pencil, but all I can read is "1864."
I was thrilled to have found another hand painted primitive box made in Sonneberg/Thuringia, ca. 1830-40, one of the nicest examples I have seen! Considering its age, the box and painting are in wonderful condition. Only the metal escutcheon is missing (you can see the shadow of where it once was in place around the key hole). The charming hand painting can be found on all four sides, except the lid, and since the box is 10 inches long and 6 inches deep, the box shows beautifully from every angle. This is also the first box I have seen that is also decorated inside. My first thought was it was intended to be used as a writing desk, but all German Musterbücher (sample books) picturing these boxes available for sale in the first half of the 1800s show in their handwritten inventories that they were sold as sewing boxes (Nähkästchen). This one still has its original key!
|
Archives
May 2015
Susan's PageWelcome to Living Tastefully’s “Antique of the Week” page. Our love of antiques is reflected in every aspect of our everyday lives. We are passionate about collecting and also love functional antiques that can actually be used and not only admired. Hopefully we can inspire you to incorporate antiques in your home and your life to add charm and beauty to your surroundings.
All
Links
|