Just Foaling Around

So much for my resolution to post more often. *sigh* Sorry!

One of my favorite sculptors of "Old Euro" horse figurines is Professor Theodor Karner (January 10, 1884 - September 6, 1966) of Germany.  Prof. Karner worked for such prestigious porcelain firms as Nymphenburg, Rosenthal, Eschenbach, as well as for Allach (which is somewhat infamous due to its connection to the Third Reich).  

A very skilled artist, Prof. Karner sculpted a wide variety of animal and human figurines. His horses, in particular, are typified by a very refined, elegant look, sometimes a bit stylized, but always exceptionally modeled with great attention to musculature. The faces of his horses are also wonderfully expressive. Delicately-rendered ears and dynamic, finely-detailed manes and tails are other hallmarks of Prof. Karner's equine creations.

Given his high calibre of artistry, Prof. Karner's works are highly sought after by porcelain collectors. Some of his horse figures are very rare and difficult to acquire, due to a combination of age, fragility, and limited production run. Other examples, however, were produced for many years, and can be easily sourced. This is not to say that the more common pieces are any less appealing than their more elusive counterparts, however.

To illustrate this point, today's post will be dedicated to a horse Prof. Karner sculpted for Rosenthal in 1934. Model #1528 depicts a rather snooty warmblood-type foal standing in a semi-parked-out pose on a grassy base. Anyone who collects Rosenthal horses will be familiar with #1528, as this attractive foal was produced for decades.

I've had this lovely decorated example of #1528 for a few years, which I acquired from a fellow collector. (Sharp-eyed readers might also recognize him as my blog avatar!) #1528 is comparable in size to a Breyer Traditional scale foal, standing 7 1/2 inches high. The colored glaze brings out the subtle, shaggy textures of a foal's coat that Prof. Karner meticulously reproduced in the original sculpture.

I am not exaggerating when I say that #1528 is probably my favorite equine sculpture by Prof. Karner. To me, this foal is the most naturalistic of the great artist's horses, while still exhibiting the sculptural presence that his work is known for.

But wait, there's more!

I recently went antiquing, returning to a small town with a few nice shops that I hadn't been to in several years. I had gone through two antique malls and had found no horses, and was almost through the third and final mall (and despairing of any hope of finding clinkies) when I glanced in a glass display case next to the checkout counter. There, lurking in the back of the cabinet, was a very familiar-looking foal, a white horse-shaped spectre amidst a sea of ceramic nick-knacks and other small collectibles. 

I admit, I actually hesitated over whether I should buy him because I've been spending a lot of money on clinkies lately I already had the colored foal, and ordinarily I don't collect undecorated horses. But in the end his pristine condition, and presence of the original metallic foil Rosenthal label won me over. Oh, and the dealer was running a sale. Bonus! Also, I couldn't help but wonder how long the foal had been sitting in that shop, waiting for an appreciative collector to come along and rescue him.

The fact that the shop only had white butcher paper to wrap purchases simply reinforced my rule of thumb when antiquing - always, always bring bubble wrap and a box (or bin) in the car, which fortunately I had. Even so, I was relieved to see that he made the drive back safe and sound.

Upon conversing with some collector friends who also love Old Euro figures, I learned that #1528 is somewhat unusual compared to other Rosenthal horses sculpted by Karner in that the decorated version, generally a muted "baby" bay or chestnut coloring, is far more easily found than the undecorated version with clear glaze over white bisque. (Thus were banished any thoughts about having him custom glazed!)

I was eager to compare him to his colored counterpart. Prepare to be inundated with side-by-side photographs!

One noticeable difference between the two was that the white foal's head was slightly more turned than the colored one. The variation is significant enough that I wondered if, since the white foal predates the colored foal, it was an intentional modification to the mold for easier casting. Without a third example of #1528 to compare to in person, however, such thoughts are purely speculative at this point.

It was also instructive to compare underneath their bases:

White #1528 Foal with original label

Colored #1528 Foal

Based on the Rosenthal backstamps, the white #1528 foal was produced early on, between 1936-1944 (more likely in the 1930s than 1940s), while the colored #1528 foal was produced around 1960. It is interesting to see how the mold number, which is incised below Prof. Karner's signature on the white foal, appears at a different spot on the colored foal. Also, the backstamp is in a different location on both examples. Finally, the colored foal has a center supporting strip of porcelain under the base that the older white foal lacks.

Well, that about does it for this post. I hope to have a more substantive article next time. I've been kicking around an idea for a while but haven't quite found the right tone. Crossing my fingers that inspiration will strike and get the ball rolling so that you'll have something to read from me before December 2018!

Until then, Happy New Year to all!

References:

Kathleen Williams' Karner Page: http://www.horsyme.com/Karnerpage.html

Model Horse Gallery Rosenthal Page: http://www.modelhorsegallery.info/R/R-companies/MHCs_Rosenthal.html

Wikipedia Allach Porcelain Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allach_(porcelain)

Rosenthal Marks Dating Reference Site: http://collectrosenthal.com/markingsdate.html

Special thanks to Diane Gutzwiler.

The Fragile Foxhunter

The internet is a terrible thing.

No, don't get me wrong. There are plenty of wonderful things about the world wide web; access to endless troves of information and imagery, the ability to network with people around the globe, and instantaneous delivery of newsworthy information.

The internet also enables collectors to spend money like no other conduit in the history of man. No longer do collectors have to hope and pray to come across sought-after pieces by religiously scouring antique shops and shows. No longer do they have to wait for monthly printed hobby newsletters with classified ads, or pay for subscriptions to printed auction house catalogs. Now, at any time, day or night, collectors can find just about anything they want, for sale anywhere in the world, with a few clicks of a mouse.

It's an exciting (if financially exhausting) advantage of living in the information age.

Translation: I recently acquired an extraordinary, and apparently extremely rare clinky, and I'm going to share it with you today.

This magnificent figure was produced by Augarten Wien, and sculpted by Albin Dobrich, who also sculpted Augarten's famous line of Spanish Riding School Lipizzan figures. This piece measures approximately 8 1/2 inches tall by 10 inches long, and was designed around the 1920s-1930s. Date of production is a little harder to pinpoint, given the consistency of Augarten's production quality and little-changed backstamps, but I'd guess between 1920-1950.

The details on this foxhunter are incredible, as is par for the course with all Dobrich pieces that Augarten produced. Even the riding crop is painted to include the spiral pattern of braided leather down the shaft!

And let's talk for a moment about the intricate tree branch jump that supports the entire figure: 

What makes this particular piece truly stand out though is the exceptional quality of the glaze work. The dapples, which upon casual glance appear to be just gray shaded areas with dapples rubbed in, are actually individually painted gray hairs. Imagine how much patience, and steady hands, required by this approach!

Albin Dobrich's signature can be seen on the base as well:

I've spoken with a number of very experienced and knowledgeable collectors and so far none of them have encountered or seen this piece. I imagine many did not survive intact over the years given the precarious pose and construction, so I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to give this rare and undamaged example a home in the herd. 

Until next time! 

(P.S. - "next time" should be much sooner than the timelapse between my last post and this one. I hope!)

Hunting Hagen Renakers: An Auction Adventure

As promised, moving right along to the collecting experience that really planted the idea for the creation of this blog. And pictures! Lots of pictures!

Recently, word of an auction featuring some vintage Hagen Renaker Designers Workshop horses went out on Facebook. On the plus side, the auction was located close by and featured a few pieces I'd been wanting for my collection for a while, but had simply never gotten around to acquiring, yet. On the down side, the auction featured internet bidding, which meant that the whole of the hobby was now on notice and able to bid, which probably meant that there would likely be no bargains.

Still, I simply couldn't let the opportunity pass, so on the morning of the auction I embarked on my way to the auction house. Stopped by a random yard sale (nothing worth buying) down the road from my neighborhood en route, and thought it was a good omen that the horses of the farm across the street had gathered by the fenceline to investigate the steady parade of bargain-hunters.

Hi there! This guy was a real sweetie. Gypsy Vanner?

Real horsey therapy accomplished, I continued on my way. After driving around the block a couple times on account of trying to figure out where the auction house was, I finally got parked and registered to bid. At first I was confused because I looked around the room and all I saw was antique furniture and statuary. Panic set in for a bit, because the auction was supposed to be chocked full of small collectibles, toys, and other bric-a-brac. Where were the horses??? Fortunately a quick inquiry with one of the clerks resulted in me being led to other rooms where the items for sale were all displayed in showcases and on tables.

And there they were:

Crusader

Daisy, Kelso, and Don Cortez

Heather and a Lefton mustang

Sky Chief, Scamper, and a Beswick foal

So after inspecting them, deciding which ones I really wanted, and setting maximum bids for myself, I settled in a chair in the back of the room and waited. I'll admit, I was very nervous, just worried that I wouldn't be able to get any of them. I couldn't help but scope out the room over and over again to see if I could find any sign of fellow collectors who had traveled to attend in person. I had seen one lady and her husband looking at the HRs during the preview, and heard her commenting about how they were damaged, but she didn't seem like a knowledgeable collector. Still, I bid on and won a lot of three Breyers and a Hartland horse as a pre-emptive consolation prize in the event that I couldn't touch the HRs.

Fortunately the auctioneer was going at a fast clip, so it was only about an hour until showtime! It also "helped" that I was on my phone messaging up a storm with a few interested hobby friends up until shortly before the HRs hit the block.

As I expected, online bidding was fierce. You could hear people in the room (mostly dealers and toy collectors, as far as I could tell) gasping in surprise at the opening bids, and even more so as the bids (including mine) climbed higher and higher. When the dust had settled, however, I was pleased, and a bit dazed, that I had won the horses I had my eye on.

Checking out was something of an adventure. The auction owner (who bears a striking resemblance to a younger Bill Gates, by the way) and clerks treated me like royalty, which I thought was amusing at the time. In retrospect, of course, I could understand their amazement that I had paid so much money for four horse figurines - two of which had broken legs, even! They were very friendly and asked if I had a collection and if I planned to keep them all or sell any of them. They also thanked me for attending the auction, hoped I would come back again, and said they were glad that i had won what I had come for.

Of course I had come prepared with a big plastic bin full of bubble wrap, foam, and a roll of TP. The auction owner and a clerk brought the horses out to the checkout area, since winning bidders weren't permitted to retrieve items they had purchased themselves. I proceeded to wrap the horses up. One of the clerks lingered to watch. She was interested in seeing how I wrapped them because she knew they would have to ship the horses that had gone to the internet bidders, which I thought was very responsible of her. I was amused when another auction clerk wandered by and asked the clerk who was helping me "Where did you get the toilet paper?" and was met with the response, "She brought it herself. She came prepared!"

The clerk chatted with me a bit and said that of all the hundreds of items in the auction that day, the auction company had received the most phone calls and emails about the Hagen Renaker horses, asking about size, condition, shipping, etc. She also said that when they got the horses in on consignment for the auction she had been shocked at the prices she had found while researching their value, and how the auction owner, upon learning about their value, emphasized, "Do NOT remove the stickers!" The clerk also asked about whether missing the sticker would severely damage their value, to which I replied that while the stickers are nice to have, it's the quality and condition of the piece that counts for most of the value.

All in all it was a really pleasant experience, and I'm so thankful that I was able to add these wonderful Hagen Renakers to my collection. Don Cortez was the only one I hadn't intended to keep, and I quickly found a hobby friend who offered him a new home.

In the meantime, here are photos of the Monrovia Crusader, Kelso, and Daisy "fresh" from the auction. As you can see, they all have their original factory stickers. I'll give them an alcohol rub down and get them cleaned up soon. Kelso will be going to a local restoration artist to address his repaired leg and I will follow up in another post once he's good as new.

I hope you enjoyed this collecting story as much as I have enjoyed sharing it.

Until next time!

Obligatory First Post

Hello all!

After nearly 20 years of collecting model horses in some form or another, I decided to start a blog dedicated to my experiences in the model horse hobby. I'll be sharing stories from my collecting adventures, featuring favorite pieces, and generally musings on the hobby.

I maintain a Flickr album as an online inventory of my herd, which I update regularly as I acquire (and sell!) pieces.

See my collection on Flickr here

My horse collection currently focuses primarily on fine bone china and ceramic horse figures of various ages, with a healthy side of vintage and antique cast metal statues.

I hope you enjoy my blog, which I plan to update on a somewhat regular basis, and welcome your comments and thoughts!

Thank you.

P.s.: I promise the next post (which will be coming very soon!) will include more exciting content; even PICTURES! ;)