Toys Under the Christmas Tree - Day 10

This early, ca. 1840-1850, soldier on rocking horse shows the effects of time, but nonetheless still in very good condition for its age.  Many German figures from this time period were fashioned from a mix made up of bread dough (Brotteig), as was this soldier and also the body of the horse, so  any damage to the soldier appears to be because of the age of the piece and not because it was roughly played with.    It is a wonderful early example and rare because toys of this kind were meant to be played with, and were, by little boys.   I can imagine they didn't last more than a year or two, if that long, and were thrown away because of rough play.