Moving Toy - drinking man
This figure has a painted papier-mache head, and wears its original clothes. The silk coat and trousers are now in poor condition, with the silk fibres shredding and breaking away.
The figure holds ...
Moving Toy - hat raising doll
This wooden figure holds a wooden top hat.
A black lace is attached to the figure's shoulder. When the lace is pulled, the figure lifts up its hat.
Moving Toy - tea-pouring figure
This oriental figure has a bisque head and hands, with a composition body. It holds a teapot and cup and saucer. A clockwork mechanism is hidden in the base. When the key is wound, the figure moves its ...
Noah's Ark
The Noah's Ark was a popular toy in the 19th century. It was considered a suitable toy to play with on Sundays, because it was based on a bible story.
This ark is made from wood, covered with strips ...
Ornament
This small brass ornament is from Delhi. It features two men and an elephant feeding from a bucket.
Ornament
This small metal model is from China. It is a model of a five-tiered pagoda or temple building.
Ornament
This small metal model is from China. It is a model of sedan chair being carried by two men.
Pack Of Cards
A set of playing cards, without a box. The set is made up of picture cards with words at the bottom.
Pedlar Doll
Pedlar dolls were ornaments to display in the home, not playthings. They were dressed like real pedlars, complete with a basket of tiny goods for sale.
This pedlar is made of wood, and carries a large ...
Pedlar Doll
This pedlar doll tells fortunes. Her skirt is made up of folded pieces of paper. Each one unfolds, to reveal a rhyme.
Most of the fortunes are about love and marriage :
'A darling young officer, ...
Picture Alphabet
This toy is called 'The Picture Alphabet - For A Good Child' and dates from about 1830. The game was used to teach children the alphabet and the cards depict letters and related pictures. During the 19th ...
Picture Blocks
This box contains a set of picture blocks. Each wooden cube has part of a different picture on each side. The aim is to match up the cubes so they make a complete picture.
Sets like these often had ...
Plastic Doll
New plastics, developed during World War II (1939 - 1945), were used for doll and toy making from 1945. They largely replaced more traditional materials like porcelain and composition.
This 'black' ...
Plastic Doll
In the 1950's, new plastics (polyethylene, or 'vinyl') gave manufacturers a soft and flexible material for producing dolls.
This doll has a hard plastic body and legs, with soft plastic head and arms.
The ...
Plastic Doll
This plastic fashion doll, called 'Little Miss Vogue', comes with the original box and several fashionable outfits from the early 1960's.
The head is made from soft plastic, with the hair inserted ...
Porcelain Head Doll
This doll was made by the French maker Jules Steiner. His company made high quality dolls, as well as mechanical figures.It has a bisque head, with composition body and limbs. 'Composition' is a papier-mache ...
Porcelain Head Doll
This doll, sold under the trade name 'Revalo', was made by the German maker Gebruder Ohlhaver.
It has a bisque head - a matt (unshiny) porcelain, with blue closing eyes and a real hair wig.
The ...
Porcelain Head Doll
This doll has a porcelain head with painted hair and features. It is called a 'glazed china' because the head has been given an overglaze to make it shiny.
Glazed china heads were popular until the ...