Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="42Skeezix, post: 22774, member: 40"]I'm seeing cast bronze here. Not black. I see typical dark patination. Not spelter IMHO. One thing that bothers me though. These appear to be fairly better quality castings. Is that a mold line from the ear to the collar on the larger dog? Otherwise I don't see any mold lines, which is correct. Even if they ARE present they're usually well disguised. That line is...odd. I would guess they're mounted to the base with iron or steel pegs anchored into blind holes in the marble. If they were simply mounted with some type of adhesive alone they'd surely have separated...no doubt. They might be what one calls Vienna Bronzes, but not quite IMHO. Vienna bronzes are typically a little bit smaller, and normally cold painted but not always. Not often mounted on bases either. The Airdale's popularity peeked in the early 20s when the earlier mentioned Laddie Boy was the dog of President Warren Harding who served from '21 to '23. Laddie Boy was a national sensation with thousands of items, figurines in bronze, spelter, pottery, chalk, you name it, items with his image, etc. being created to capitalize on the craze. The infatuation quickly faded. You could probably put together a very nice specialized collection of Laddie Boy stuff alone. I think this is a very nice item, Laddie or not. Of the period for sure (IMHO.)[/QUOTE]