Bag of metal animals

Bought a baggie containing these six metal animals at the thrift the other week. Figured out what most are ... but two have me stumped.


The horse, (tallest at 3") and the whale (longest at 4")are heavy, and since I can write with them easily where the paint has chipped off, I'm guessing they're lead toys. Correct? I used to have a lead dinosaur toy ... and I liked chewing on its tail (may explain a lot!)... why were toys made of lead?

The bunnies are stamped Austria Baller ... research lead (the other kind of 'lead') me to these being bronze and that the little deer is by Walter Bosse ... called 'doe'.

The first mystery animal is the tiny (1 3/8") elephant with rider - heavy for its size, but not lead ... brass? bronze? Nice detail but has paint loss. Any clue to what it is and where it originated?

Second mystery is the dog - I don't know if it's a scottie or corgie or what? Weighty, but not as heavy as the others ... coppery metallic finish with maybe some paint too ... has a crackle-like finish when viewed close-up. Any ideas at all what this is or what I should search for?

Thanks again for looking

 

I sold a similar dog on eBay last year. Mine was a Scottie, about 3" tall, and I was told he was from circa 1950s. I don't know dog breeds well enough to say yours is a Scottie, too.

This was mine...

 

Since mine does not have as defined of a 'rectangular' face, I guess it probably is something other than a Scottie.

Thanks Pat ... helping to narrow it down.

 

I'd guess brass on the elephant and Scottie on the dog (I don't think Corgis have that schnoz).

But I really like the Sperm Whale.

 

In India they ride elephants & train them with a stick.....albeit....a longer one,......but it's a kid on a baby elephant.....& looks bronze like....

 

Corgis don't have the shnozz or the tail (at least not that type.)

The bunnies are so cute!

 

I wonder if the elephant is a cold painted Vienna bronze that lost its color ?

 

Thanks for all the input on dog type. (now I can spell Corgi correctly )

Been looking at different types of terriers. Scotties not only are trimmed leaving their hair (beard?) long at the end of their nose ... their noses are looong too!

I'm leaning towards a Cairn Terrier .... isn't that what Toto was?

I know that the sale of this little guy isn't going to bring in much more than enough for a beer and a snack ... but I know that dog owners know their own breeds and it can only help to narrow this one down to more than "small dog".

 

Thanks Bakers, the bunnies are what sold me on the bag!

 

Thanks moreotherstuff! Now I don't have to research types of whales to figure out what type this is. He is cute ... and his eyes are blue!

 

I wouldn't call the dog a Cairn Terrier either. Their face profile doesn't have that high bridge yours has. Not as long either.

 

very cool bag of animals quirky girl! Maybe a west highland terrier?

 

I thought a westie too, but just went into the kitchen and looked at the picture of my nephew, his wife and their Westie. Nose is too short.

 

The dawg.....or the wife ???

 

The 'bunnies' are hares. In the spring the males 'box' to establish status. The model is stylised boxing hares.

There is no reason why the sculptor should have modelled a specific dog breed. Or if they did, got it right.

 

Lead was used because it could be easily melted, and then poured into a mold. As to the dog, advertise it as a Terrier, because that it certainly is. If you try to be more specific, you'll lose some potential buyers who don't care for Cairns, or Scotties, or whatever.

 

Thank you all for your replies!

I too agree that "Terrier" is as descriptive as I'm going to get ...

I misspoke when calling the doe and boxing hares "bronze" (still prefer to think of them as dancing bunnies! ) ... I was just echoing what others online were calling them ... They are actually made of brass.

Speaking of brass -vs- bronze ... I've been reading about the differences between the two as I try to determine of what the little elephant (and his rider - a mahout) is made. It seems that the only non-destructive way of determining would be from looking at the color of the bare metal ... Is this correct?

 

No, you can use an X-ray reflection flouroscope (XRF Scanner) if you have one, hand held examples are becoming quite common in busy precious metal dealers (pawnshops?) but they cost around $20000.

They give a percentage analysis of the metals present. Very useful for unknown silver and gold objects. My bullion dealer has one, it looks like a Star Trek phaser with a small screen on top, and he will check anything for a pound donation to his charity tin.

 

Herta Baller poduced and marketed the Walter Bosse figures post-WWII. by posh collectors (like me...) those aren't really looked upon as Vienna Bronzes.
further problem: many fakes around.

 

I LOVE the bunnies!!!! I'll show them to Figgy (my bunny) for her opinion.
Whale is great too! I'm envious of those and would've gotten dizzy grabbing them and running out asap.