Major "Antique Roadshow" score, or just plain cute?
December 22, 2014 9:58 AM Subscribe
Meet "Razzles" (our name for him). My son brought him home from a local (Connecticut) antique/junk shop last Christmas as a gift for his mom.
IIRC, he paid around $30 for him. He stands about 18 inches high to the top of his head. No markings of any kind anywhere suggesting he was factory-made. Nothing else like him on the Interwebs as far as I've been able to find.
Maybe I've been watching too much Antiques Roadshow, but something tells me this little guy may have come out of some (important?) regional American outsider/primitive crafts movement from the past 100 years or so.
Anyone ever seen something like this before?
IIRC, he paid around $30 for him. He stands about 18 inches high to the top of his head. No markings of any kind anywhere suggesting he was factory-made. Nothing else like him on the Interwebs as far as I've been able to find.
Maybe I've been watching too much Antiques Roadshow, but something tells me this little guy may have come out of some (important?) regional American outsider/primitive crafts movement from the past 100 years or so.
Anyone ever seen something like this before?
The fact that tiger-striped fabric was used makes it seem a little less likely that this toy is worth a ton of money. I'd guess sometime mid-20th century, potentially made from a kit or some kind of stuffed toy pattern. Which isn't to say it isn't worth more than $30, but I doubt it's important Outsider Art or anything. It's just a handmade toy in a style that isn't popular nowadays.
posted by Sara C. at 10:34 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by Sara C. at 10:34 AM on December 22, 2014
Response by poster: Sara C.: Interesting. Where can I learn more about these kits and patterns?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:37 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:37 AM on December 22, 2014
I think I'd include a very close up of the wheels so someone could date him.
posted by beccaj at 10:38 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by beccaj at 10:38 AM on December 22, 2014
Response by poster: beccaj: I thought of that too, but who knows if the wheels are original?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:40 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:40 AM on December 22, 2014
Best answer: This quick google search brought up at least two examples of zoo/circus animal patterns from midcentury, as well as a Tigger shown with tiger-striped fabric.
My guess is that putting it on wheels would have been a personal choice and not part of a pattern like this.
The wheels look like bog-standard furniture casters from midcentury, to me. They could date as early as the 20s or 30s, though? What are they made of?
Is there any plastic on the toy anywhere, even in the eyes or whiskers?
posted by Sara C. at 10:42 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
My guess is that putting it on wheels would have been a personal choice and not part of a pattern like this.
The wheels look like bog-standard furniture casters from midcentury, to me. They could date as early as the 20s or 30s, though? What are they made of?
Is there any plastic on the toy anywhere, even in the eyes or whiskers?
posted by Sara C. at 10:42 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My guess is post-1950 and probably post-1960.
Here's why:
-The fleece looks like it is acrylic or polyester.
-All the stitching is by machine and in good shape.
-Those casters look plastic - like from the 50s or 60s. They are worn down rather than chipped as they would have been on older porcelain wheels.
-The base for the feet looks like it is plywood. Older toys like this are going to be solid, not composite, I'd think.
-Just a general sense of midcentury kid's toy thing.
I see a lot of amateur sewing and this looks pretty good. If it is from a kit they did a good job; as someone who has seen a LOT of amateur sewing, well, usually it doesn't look that good.
I see some of the stuffing is coming out through the tear in the foot - if you can see more of it, you can get a better sense - older things are going to be stuffed with some combination of cotton batting, sawdust, horsehair, coir, &c. Newer things are going to have foam of some kind.
If you can isolate some of the fiber from the body fabric you can burn it and find out what it is - poly and acrylic melt, but wools and furs smell like burning hair.
posted by Tchad at 10:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Here's why:
-The fleece looks like it is acrylic or polyester.
-All the stitching is by machine and in good shape.
-Those casters look plastic - like from the 50s or 60s. They are worn down rather than chipped as they would have been on older porcelain wheels.
-The base for the feet looks like it is plywood. Older toys like this are going to be solid, not composite, I'd think.
-Just a general sense of midcentury kid's toy thing.
I see a lot of amateur sewing and this looks pretty good. If it is from a kit they did a good job; as someone who has seen a LOT of amateur sewing, well, usually it doesn't look that good.
I see some of the stuffing is coming out through the tear in the foot - if you can see more of it, you can get a better sense - older things are going to be stuffed with some combination of cotton batting, sawdust, horsehair, coir, &c. Newer things are going to have foam of some kind.
If you can isolate some of the fiber from the body fabric you can burn it and find out what it is - poly and acrylic melt, but wools and furs smell like burning hair.
posted by Tchad at 10:45 AM on December 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Pics 5 & 6 show the wheels a little more close-up. I believe they are plastic/celluloid. No other plastic AFAIK. I believe the eyes are glass.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:46 AM on December 22, 2014
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:46 AM on December 22, 2014
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posted by gladly at 10:12 AM on December 22, 2014