An Exemplary Grouping of Antique Toys
My two previous posts were from a new fine auctioneer by the name of Pook and Pook Inc. The initial post was to introduce everyone to the company, while the second post of yesterday was just a small sampling of toys. However, I decided to visit their current auction which will occur on September 6-7, 2013 of this year, and have a closer look. I didn't even get past the initial 200 listings before I had today's post! Most, if not all of these toys are American, and when I look at them collectively, I come up with some conclusions. First and foremost is how American toys became so abundant and diverse, just as the America the country was to become. As well, because the population came to become so big with a century and more, there would be a vast supply of toys that would remain intact over the same timespan.
Being a photographer, I usually have a very good sense of detail. As far as toys go and what I have written, I can usually remember what toys I have also written about and worked on for my posts. Initially, I started with one toy and would post 3-5 images of it, because they were toys that I purchased on E-Bay and later resold. Later, I decided to post at least 10 different toys for each post. Today's post is # 515, so you can imagine how many toys that I've seen, then edited and then finally selected.
Yet when I decided to return to Pook and Pook's current auction, I was amazed at how many toys I had never seen before! And so, I started out picking one toy, then two, and I was finished in about 30 minutes for today's selection. Of course, It takes me about 2-3 hours to extract the toy from its background, place it against white, then add the logo watermark, the copyright notice, and then the written description. Is it worth it to write a blog - absolutely! Especially, when there are more "treasures" to be found such as today's.
I decided to use the enlargement feature on Pook and Pook's website to look at the wall "mural" more closely. It's certainly a beautiful feature for a toy bank.
I like detail, and when you look moire closely at toys, there is a lot of detail to be seen. Notice the curved metal bar over the hood of the roof. I would assume that that was a guide for the leather reins of the driver.
This isn;t the rarest or the most expensive Arcasde cast iron truck. However, I was attracted to the grill (probably nickel-plated).
I enlarged the horse in order to see the legs. They looked separate from the main body, and upon enlargement you can see that they move as the toy is pulled.
There was no written description for this toy. However I would assume that there is cotton fabric, and even "rear" hair or a hide form an animal. The head is "bisque" which is a higher-quality material for doll heads. You see these a lot on very high-prieced antique dolls at auction. Bisque is a porcelain material that hads the ability to transfer realistic complexions and colours to a doll, and thus is used for the more-expensive dolls.
I might have added this wonderful toy to one of my of my 515 posts already. However the condition of this toy is superb.
This toy look familiar, but once again, the paint that has remained on the toy for so long, gives you an idea at how beautiful the toy is. Of course, the many different animals and child riders help to make this toy so nice.
What caught my attention to this toy was its patina. The word "patina" is used often when describing an old or antique item and even toys. Patina is simply the effect of oxidation, polishing, or in this case the handling by people of the toy. If you drive a car, you'll probably have noticed how some parts of the steering wheel or dashboard are worn away and have become shiny die both to wear, and the grease of your hands. That's "patina".
What also attracted me tho this toy was the beautiful harmonic colour selection of the toy. The warm hues or tones certainly work well together for this toy.
The photograph that I screen-captured certainly doesn't do justice to this Dent toy. It measures 20" (.508) meters long, and that alone caught my attention. It's one of the larger cast iron toys that I have seen since writing about toys.
Needless to say, I had to screen-capture several magnification images and splice them together in order to present to you some of the nice detail of the toy,
I'm wondering of this toy was a "pull toy"? There is a small crescent-shaped part behind the anchor, which makes me thing that the toy might be a pull toy. Also, I think that from this enlargement, there was also another anchor on the other side of this toy.
I hope that you'll have liked this post for the fact that there still is much to be written about in the antique and old toy world, and I'll be continuing to search and search. Of course, today is the last week of August, it's a sunny day, and my dog Buddy needs a walk. So if you're reading this post now, and it's a nice day or night where you are, think about taking a walk outdoors!
Thanks for dropping by to visit and read.
As always, have a great part of the day or night,
wherever you may be.
Stacey
(toysearcher@gmail.com)
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