Noah's Ark Toy

This beautiful little piece was made for a child, probably in Sonneburg, Germany in about 1860-1890. It comprises an ark and 17 pairs of animal figures. The vast majority of these arks were made in Germany. It is almost impossible to identify the maker as this was a cottage industry.

These cheap, wooden toys have been made since around 1700, before being replaced by metal toys. Nearly every wealthy Victorian family had one, but due to their biblical theme many were only played with on Sunday. They were so popular that merchants employed craftsmen from several areas of Germany to meet the demand. The animals were often carved by families who made nothing else. There is an account of an elderly German lady who carved six animal types - dogs, cats, wolves, sheep, goats and elephants. She had probably never seen an elephant, but that didn't matter. These were not biological teaching aids, so the carver's imagination was reflected in their animals. She was taught by her mother, and in turn taught her daughter and granddaughter, and had cut these figures all her life. Some families just painted the animals, eg grey horses with black spots.

This example had been on display at Walker Art Gallery in 1986 before being taken down. It is clear from the images that the paint was damaged and in need of conservation. A weak adhesive was applied with a small brush, both over and beneath the flaking sections and exposed edges of the paintwork, and given time to be absorbed into the surface. Once the paint had softened a tiny metal spatula was used to gently reposition the edges and raised areas.

Animals online exhibition | Back to the top