Gunthermann Mechanical Characters

Sunday, January 21, 2018
Overcast
-1 C  30.2 F

Gunthermann Mechanical Characters

Please click here to visit this exceptional American toy auctioneer

When you visit  liveauctioneers, you are able not only to go to the latest auction, but you are

capable of visiting their past auctions. I'm writing about Bertoia Auctions' June 3, 2017 auction today. There, I found many Gunthermann tin wind-up toys , with some being able to produce music.  I was surprised, because I don't ever think that I wrote about these toys. So I looked through this auction, and decided to write about them for today. All of today's toys are either hand-painted or lithographed on tin.  They also have mechanical wind-up movements that allow them to move the characters, and in some cases to even play music.  Most of these toys were in high demand  at this auction, and all were in fact sold in the 4-digit prices! 

Gunthermann Clown See-Saw Toy (Germany)

Hand-painted clockwork tin toy featuring the centre toy being able to 

roll back and forth on his small cart, with music emitted from the box

on the platform base.

L x W:  14" x 4"   (365mm x 102 mm)

Gunthermann Whimsical Animals Swing Toy

Very charming German tin toy, hand painted and clockwork driven, features a dressed standing dog who appears to rock his friend the dressed frog in a swing, all the while a performing poodle spins on a disc table, a very unusual tin toy. 10" (254 mm) width

Gunthermann Jiggs Bumper Car

Extremely rare example, c. 1926, 

lithographed tin amusement style toy ride, 

seated Jiggs character, clockwork driven, 5" (127 mm) width

Gunthermann Dog Trainer

Wonderful early hand painted toy of dog trainer and dog, plink-plank mechanism, when activated dog trainer raises his arms which hold a training stick and the dog with spring tail jumps up, nice form and movement. 8" ( 202 mm) height

Gunthermann Mutt and Jeff Clockwork Toy

Litho tin wind up toy, working, c. 1925, made in Germany, great form. 

At one time considered almost rare but a few have surfaced in the last 20 years and now considered hard to find. 6" (152 mm) length.

Musical Gunthermann Clown Toy

Hand painted whimsical toy features large seated clown at center holding leash for the pig, as the clockwork motor is activated, the large wheel rolls causing the small clown riding a pig to run and the entire toy revolves on the floor and plays a tune. 8 1/2" (216 mm) height .

Gunthermann Dancer and Flutist

Germany, early hand painted example, bright colors, clockwork activates twirling motions of dancer as plink-plink sounds emit from shared base, dancer depicted in classic ballerina cloth tutu, clown musician seated on bass drum. 9" ( 228 mm) height

Gunthermann Musician Toy - Violin & Banjo

Germany, hand painted tin toy, clockwork allows plink-plink music, 

depicts two minstrels seated in chairs 

with instruments in hand, a rare and desirable piece. 9" (228 mm) width.

Gunthermann Cat Violinist

Hand painted tin in impressive original conditon, clever plink-plank toy, 

depicts cat playing violin while his tail moves in rhythm, red base has some flaking primarily to one side, otherwise in uncommonly strong condition and bright colors. 7 1/2" (191 mm) height.

That's it for another post.

Thanks for dropping by,

and have a great day or night.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Beautiful Gunthermann Roll Top Cars

Tuesday, January 14, 2015
Sunny and very, very cold

A Beautiful Gunthermann Roll Top Limousine

  I was growing the Internet this morning when I came across a "roll top".  In the 1980's give or take 10 years, I used to see the occasional small-sized Citroen with a roll top. It was made of canvas, and you could roll  or unroll the canvas top to expose the sky. Some people even nicknamed it a "sardine can". Naturally, when I saw the Gunthermann roll top, I decided to post that for today. Of course the Gunthermann roll top was modelled after a limousine, so I'm sure if there was a "real car" at the time, I'm sure no one would "dare" call it a sardine can.

Please click here to visit this fine American auction company

The roll back limousine below is a wind-up toy. What I like about it is that it has electric headlights that were most likely operated from a battery, with an off/on switch. In the description below, you can read that the toy originally belonged to (Provenance) Gottschalk, an American woman known for both collecting antique toys and also writing about them.

In the bottom photo,I thing I see another light in the  about the driver's inner windshield frame.

I had to look closer at this model to see why it was only 15" (381 mm) in length. It turns out that this model is a 2-door,whereas the other 2 toys on this page are true limousines with 4 doors. I also like the nickel-plated bumpers. Imagine, a toy that had nickel-plated bumpers. Our 5 cent Canadian coin used to be called a "nickel" because it was made from nickel.  Nowadays, it's made from some sort of metal, and the Canadian government even got rid of the "copper" penny (1 cent coin).

I also like the chauffeur who is very thin. I find this sort of like Some of the Dali painting where things are stretched surrealistically on the canvas or appear to melt.

 The description below has the length at 17 1/2", so I 'm wondering if there was either an error in the above car or this one below. Or, perhaps, there were 2 different sizes altogether.

I'll try and remember to check for other auctioneers listings to see 

what the actual sizes of these "roll tops" are.

I came across the roll top bus (below) later in the day and added it to this post after the post was up. Interestingly, I could only find 1 anywhere on the Internet. If anyone out there has one, I'd be happy to add it to this  post if you'd send me the photos. I can;t believe that I could only find one!

Thanks for dropping by,and as always,

have a great part of the day or night,

wherever you may be,

Stacey

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Fantastic Early Automobiles of Gunthermann

Monday, September  16, 2013

The Fantastic Early Automobiles of Gunthermann

   Even though I'm writing a blog in my leisure time, you begin to realize how fast time goes by. I checked as to when I last wrote about the Gunthermann company, and that was on December 6, 2012, when I first introduced the company or I first discovered Gunthermann. European toy companies had already been well-established, and their toys were well-crafted and much more ornate, complex, and   designed that American toys.  Of course, Europe had already been populated for nearly two millenia, while "New" America had only been around since the early 1500's  - a mere 400 years or so, up to 1900. WHen I say "New" I am only referring to eh new immigrants and  arrivals. Of course, the Native American Peoples were in North America for millenia. THeir style of life was certainly much more different.

A Brief History of Gunthermann

   The Gunterhmann toy company was founded in 1826 in Nurenberg Germany. Coincidentally, the world's largest toy fair happens every year there.  In its time, it was one of the most respected and long established manufacturers.  he company crafted beautifully-designed toys, and would use new manufacturing processes as they began to appear.  (e.g. lithographed colour on tin) for their toys.

When the automobile and airplane arrived on the scene, Gunthermann began to produce these toys in very accurate detail, with beautiful colours, and mechanical clockwork driven mechanisms. The company sometimes used the SG logo. In WWII, the company factory was destroyed.

    Please take some time to read the written descriptions. You'll find details such as glass, mechanical wind-up mechanism, hand-painted figures, lithographed tin, replacement figures and parts, and so forth. Even with replacement parts, these true antiques and toys yielded strong final auction prices. Many of the toys presented today were from the collection of Mr. Donald Kaufmann, who was one of America's most renowned and respected toy collectors in the  middle and latter 20th century. Fortunately for myself, I am able to find so many beautiful Examples of Gunthermann automobiles in one location.

What's interesting to read are the written descriptions and words, as well as the  techniques (e.g.hand-painted). There are terms and words used for the automobiles (not cars in those days), that we  don't come across any more in North America. Headlamps, vis-a-vis, lanterns, bonnet, and buckboard are just a few to name. 

Of course, when learning about toys , as I still am and will be for a long time, you will always be learning old words that have long since been placed in "storage". Fortunately, there will always be collectors to keep these toys and the language of toys alive.  And that for sure is a great thing!

I hope you all have a fine day to start this week.

Thanks for dropping by,

and as always, have  agreat part fo the day or nioght,

wherever you may be.

Stacey Bindman

toysearcher@gmail.com

(Please feel free to write to me anytime - I'm always looking for new stories and old toys)

Gunthermann - Fine German Toys

Thursday, December 6, 2012
        Clear and Cold    -1 C  30 F

Gunthermann

Fine German Toys

     Germany had always been known for excellent engineering and craftsmanship.Naturally, toys would fall into this category. And being a country in Europe, the toy companies had  many centuries to develop their skills. 

    Gunthermann was a fine German Company (1877 - 1965). It's hard to find information, so I'll correct this and elaborate in the future. One of their "specialties" was the wind-up mechanical toy. What this meant was that after you wound up the toy with a key, the mechanical energy slowly was released through the coil to make the toy move.  The concept was clever since once you developed the mechanics, you could simply adapt the movement in different ways for different toys.
These toys are also called "clockwork toys".

   Siegfried Gunthermann started the company was died in 1898. His widow married Adloph Weigel who ran the company until his death in 1919. In 1965, the German Company acquired the company.

You can find all of these toys on the Liveauctioneers website.

There find the Bertoia company, then past sales, and do a search for Gunthermann.

All of the toys below are wind-ups, except for the  Gungthermann "Walking Swan" which 

is a "pull toy". I liked the majestic  movement of that toy, and so I added it.

I'm sure that you can figure out what the movement of each of the toys is, except for maybe the last item - the ladder truck. For that one, the ladder and fireman pivot when the ladder is lifted from its front mooring. When I look at most of these toys and how they were made, I think of the craftspeople  of that time, and how these toys were made by hand. Nowadays, automatic machines and robots churn out toys made  in China by the millions!

Thanks for dropping by, 

and

have a great part of the day, wherever you may be.

Stacey