Bittersweet Breyer Herd

I thought that you might like to see the entire Bittersweet Breyer herd...enjoy!

Breyer Horses

Breyer horses have been part of our home for over 15 years...all forty of the horses belong to my daughter.   As a child, my daughter certainly had her share of dolls, but never really played with them.  She wasn't one to "play house" or take care of her babies, unlike my niece who always had a baby doll with her.  No, my daughter really liked horses and wanted a real one of her own.  Since we lived in an area that would not allow horses, model horses were the next best option.  Thank goodness for Breyer.

According to the Breyer Horse website; www.breyerhorses.com, "Breyer Animal Creations began at the Breyer Molding Company, a Chicago, Illinois- based plastics manufacturing company.  Its first model horse, the #57 Western Horse, made its appearance in 1950.  It was a special order for the F.W. Woolworth Company, made to adorn a mantelpiece clock.  The company was then flooded with requests from people who saw it and wanted to know if they could purchase just the horse!  By accepting that one order, the Breyer Molding Company had changed the focus of its business and company direction forever!" In 1984, Reeves International, a US distributor of fine European toys and collectibles, acquired Breyer Animal Creations.   Reeves International gradually completed the transition from distributor to a manufacturing and marketing company in the past 20 years.  Breyer Animal Creations is its largest line.

"Breyer model horses, which begin as artist's sculptures, are all handcrafted and hand-painted with airbrushes and paintbrushes.  Approximately 20 different artisans handle each individual Breyer model from start to finish- a process, which, 54 years later, is still done by human hands, not machines.  Even today, no two Breyer model horses are ever exactly alike!"

"Llanarth True Briton" Champion Welsh Cob, #494, dark chestnut, 1994-1996

My daughter, who is now all grown up, dreamed of having horses.  Please note the plural...horses.   My husband grew up in the country and his family had a couple of horses when he was younger, and she knew this.  She wanted the same thing.  But, zoning would not allow horses where we live, and we couldn't imagine having a horse boarded.  So, we signed her up for horseback riding lessons and horse camp.  She loved every minute of it. 

Top- left to right: " Goliath the American Dream- Draft Horse"  Light Palomino, 1995, Commemorative Edition, #1,869 out of 10,000 produced, "Clydesdale Shire Mare"  #856, Dark Chestnut/Bay, 1992-1993, "Belgian Brabant" #837, Grey Dun, 1996-1997, "Sebastian, Percheron" #953, Grey Roan, 1996-1997, "Highland Clydesdale, #868, Bay, 1992-1995.

My in-laws, her paternal grandparents, lived on a beautiful lake in Northern Michigan.  They loved all of their grandchildren very much and were wonderful grandparents.  So, every summer, each grandchild was invited to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa.  Each one was allowed to pick out what they wanted to do while they were there.   Some of the activities included:  fishing, tubing, canoeing, going to Hartwick Pines, visiting Mackinaw Island, swimming, golfing, shopping, going out for ice cream, fireworks, and horseback riding.  My father-in-law found a woman who owned horses, and was more than willing to have my daughter come to ride them, groom them, help in the barn, etc.  Again, she was in heaven.

Left to right:  "Greystreak Action Arabian"  #899, Grey, 1994-1995, "Clayton Quarter Horse", #911, Dapple Palomino, 1995-1996,  "Black Beauty"  #847, Black, 1991-1995.

The Breyer horses come in different sizes, my daughter chose to collect the largest size called the Traditional Size- approximately 12" long and 9" high, a 1:9 scale.  Unlike most collectors, she wasn't interested in obtaining all of the different types of horses, just the ones that she liked.  She always loved the Bays, her dream horse!

Left to right:  "Pluto the Lipizzaner"  #475, light grey, 1991-1995, "AQHA Ideal American Quarter Horse (AQHA Foundation Sire Series), #497, Chestnut, 1995- limited edition, "Rough 'n Ready"  #885, Quarter Horse dun, 1993-1995.

Since we live close to a university that has a veterinarian science specialty and the facilities to care for and manage large animals- horses, we were able to take her to see horse shows.  One of the the shows that I remember best was the Lipizzaner Horse Show.  The horses were amazing!

"CH Imperator"  #904, Dark Chestnut, 1994-1995.

Left to right:  "Princess of Arabia", #905, Light Dappled Grey, Jan-June 1995-limited edition, "Fugir Cacador, Lusitano Stallion, Buckskin, 1993- limited edition, "Medieval Knight"  #880, Grey/roan, 1993-1994.

The "Princess of Arabia", shown above left, came with a fringed and beaded horse blanket, a fringed harness, and beautiful princess doll.  Needless to say the blanket, doll, and horse blanket never made it out of the box.  To my daughter, apparently, the horse was beautiful all on its' own.

Top to bottom:  "Old Timer"  #745, Red Roan, 1991-1993, "Ichilay, The Crow Horse", #882, Light grey with a red and white feather, 1993.

I have always liked "Old Timer" but, "The Crow Horse" was one of my daughter's favorites.

Left to right:  "Cricket Quarter Horse Foal"  -Action Stock Horse Foal"  #934,  Brown Bay, 1995-1996, "Action Appaloosa Foal"  #810  Chestnut/leopard, 1989-1993.

Breyer had a number of molds and used these molds to make a variety of horses by painting them differently.  As you can see, these foals were made from the same mold, but the colors of the horses make them look very different.

"Marguerite Henry's Misty", #2, Palomino pinto, modern pattern, 1972-present,  "Marguerite Henry's Stormy", #19, Chestnut pinto, 1977-present.

These horses were modeled after the horses in the book Misty of Chincoteague, by Marguerite Henry.  The book was written in 1947 and is about the Beebe Family of Chincoteague, Virginia.  in the book, the Beebe family tries to raise a filly, Misty, born to a wild horse.  Stormy is Misty's foal.  A wonderful story.

Top to bottom:  "Gifted"  #887, Bay, 1994- limited edition of 8,000, "Misty's Twilight", #470, Chestnut/paint, 1991-1995.

"Gifted" is another of my daughter's favorites (bay, right?),  My daughter has a high shelf that runs along 3 walls of her room.  This shelf is approximately 8' high. (She has a cathedral ceiling in her room).  Poor "Gifted" fell off of this shelf and broke his leg.  My husband fixed it pretty well, because it is not noticeable.  But, the amazing part is, after playing with the horses for years, this is the only horse that was broken.  There are no scratches, dents, dirt, etc., on any of the other horses.  They look brand new!  She took very good care of her horses.

"Misty's Twilight" is a decedent of "Misty",  from the Misty books by Marguerite Henry.

"Man O' War" #47, Red Chestnut, 1969-1995

My daughter has two "Man O' War" horses.   I guess we didn't communicate too well during gift giving times.  But, she obviously wanted to keep them both!  Some of the horses were gifts, but many of the horses were purchased by my daughter with money earned, or birthday money.  She told me recently that she knew where to get them where they were not too expensive.

Left to right"  "Freckle Doll, #888, bay/pinto, 1994-1995, "Rana", #863, dark grey, 1992-1993.

When I decided to show my daughter's model horse collection, I was a bit overwhelmed about how to go about it.  The Breyer Model Horse Company releases about 300 horses a year.  That's a lot of horses over a 15 year period!  Even though we saved all of the boxes from the  horses (yes, we did), the information on the boxes was limited.  Even worse, there were no pictures to show which horse went with which box.  My daughter was very helpful with the horses that she remembered the names of, but I was terrible in describing the horses.  I do not know horses, let alone the horse colors..dun, roan, paint, etc.  Some of the differences are very subtle!  (By the way, this was done over the phone, my daughter lives in another state.)  But, I found this great website:  www.identifyyourbreyer.com.  All you have to do is determine the size, find the mold, and then match the colors.  Then all the information is available about each model.  This site even lists the artists responsible for each horse. This website solved my problem!

Left to right: "Scribbles" Paint Horse Foal, #893 Chestnut/pinto, 1994-1995, "Woodsprite" #875, Bay, 1993-1994,
"Satin Star" Draft Foal, #894, Dark Chestnut, 1994-1995, "Bright Socks", #895, Black Pinto, 1994-1995.

Breyer has many accessories available for their model horses, such as saddles, tack, horse blankets, stables etc.  My daughter's grandfather created a beautiful stable for her horses. 

"Bluegrass Foal"  #865, Blue Roan, 1992-1994, "Chincoteague Foal", #845, Buckskin, 1991-1993,
"Martin's Dominique Champion Miniature Horse", #898, Black, 1994-1995.

The Black Miniature Horse, above right, is the "Classic Size Horse", 1:12 scale, 9" long, 6" high.

Left to right "Arabian Mare", #5650, Dappled Grey, 1994-1995, "Draft Horse", Alabaster, 1994-1995, "Morgan Stallion, reddish bay, 1994-1995.

These small "Stablemates" were a part of a Saddle Club Collection.  Stablemates were on a 1:32 scale, 4" long, and 3" high.  Despite their size, they are highly detailed.

"Rugged Lark", #450, Bay, 1989-1995

This is my daughter's favorite horse, her dream horse- the prefect bay.

Most Breyer Horse collectors have a lot more horses than my daughter.  But, my daughter did not start out to collect them, but rather to play with and enjoy them.  The horses are still displayed in her bedroom, here at home.  I asked her if she wanted us to pack them up and she said that she would like them kept on her shelf until she has her own house, if that is okay with us,  and yes, that is okay with us!

Hope you enjoyed a little peak into the world of Breyer Horses.

Crackle Glass Fruit

Today I'm going to share a beautiful collection with you that doesn't even belong to me!  It actually belongs to my son.  Our family likes to wander through antique shops, flea markets, basically anywhere you can find old and interesting items.  A number of years ago, my son "discovered" crackle glass and began picking up pieces here and there.  So, for Christmas, his Dad and I purchased a couple of books about Crackle Glass* for him.  It's always  nice to learn the history of antiques that "strike your fancy."  Lo and behold, the book had a section on crackle glass fruit.  Up until then, we had not seen any crackle glass fruit and were excited to begin the search.  I say "we" because  it's always nice to find a special birthday or Christmas gift for him.  I was able to find some crackle glass fruit on-line from private sellers and also on ebay.  My son was actually able to find crackle glass fruit in antique shops.  It has been a fun search, and the fruit is absolutely beautiful.

A little history-  It is thought that crackle glass was first created in the 16th century by Venetian glass makers.  To create crackle glass, the glass blower plunges red hot glass into cold water, and then reheats and reblows the glass item.  This process creates multiple fractures, but the surface remains smooth.  It is reported that this crackling process was initially used to cover imperfections in the glass pieces.  Crackle glass continued to be created in Europe, then in the United States.  There were many glass companies in the United States, most of them in the West Virginia area.  They chose West Virginia because of its abundance of natural gas.  It is reported that most of the crackle glass was produced from the late 1930s to the early 1970s.  The most well-known glass companies in West Virgina that produced crackle glass were Bischoff, Blenko, Kanawha, Pilgrim, and Rainbow.  Because glass blowers tended to move from company to company, it is not always easy to determine which company made a crackle glass piece because they often produced the same pieces.  Please keep in mind that crackle glass products were only a small portion of the items made by these companies.  It is reported that the only company that still produces crackle glass, today, is Blenko.

My son's crackle glass fruit collection.

This amazing crackle glass pumpkin is approximately 6 1/2 inches tall and 6 inches wide.  Most crackle glass fruit is much smaller, as you can see in the first picture.  This amber pumpkin was made by the Blenko Glass Company, as it still has the sticker on it.  Pieces are more valuable if they still have their stickers, because most people immediately removed the stickers, and washed the fruit after purchase.
 

As you can see, this Emerald green crackle glass apple was made by Blenko, and has a fairly new sticker including a current phone number and website address.  I contacted the company and they told me that crackle glass fruit is not a part of their regular production, but that fruit has continued to be made.  Because of this sticker, this apple was probably made sometime from the late 1990s to the present.

From clockwise:  A cobalt blue crackle apple made by Blenko, a crystal crackle pear with green leaf- manufacturer unknown, an Emerald green lime with peanut shell crackle- manufacturer unknown, and a rose crystal apple-manufacturer unknown.  Obviously not all crackle fruit is "signed."  Companies sometimes pressed a design on the Pontil mark, or etched names on the bottom of the glass piece.

This is a cobalt blue apple made by the Blenko company.  The value of Crackle Glass is determined by the design, color, rarity, and quality.  Some of the colors were and are more expensive to make, therefore, remain more valuable today.  These colors include cranberry, ruby red, amberina, and cobalt blue.  Even though amethyst was not more costly to make, it is more collectible as people tend to prefer this color.  Also, smoke ( gray) was only made for about 10 years, so there are a limited numbers of pieces.  Crackle Glass fruit is highly collectible as it was usually not a part of a company's catalog and fewer pieces were made.

Emerald green peanut shell molded lime-  manufacturer unknown.

Clockwise:  Emerald green apple with clear stem- manufacturer unknown,  Ruby red apple- possibly manufactured by the Kanawha company, amberina tomato- manufacturer unknown, cranberry with yellow highlight apple- manufacturer unknown.

Sometimes it is more difficult to see the "crackle" in darker pieces, this apple is finely crackled and is beautiful in the sunlight.

Clockwise:  Emerald green apple- Blenko Company, amethyst apple- Blenko Company, cranberry apple- manufacturer unknown.  This emerald green apple is more valuable because it has the Blenko name and "hand" logo sandblasted on the bottom. This was done in 1959 and 1960.

Green crackle pear- manufacturer unknown.

Rose crystal pear- manufacturer unknown.

This view shows the different sizes of the crackle glass fruit.

This amethyst crackle glass apple sparkles in the sunlight.  As you can see, it has the Blenko sticker with the "hand" logo.  The Blenko Glass Company is still in operation and has a factory outlet store.  So, if you are ever in Milton, West Virginia, please check it out.

I just love this amberina tomato.  I personally think it looks more like a little pumpkin.  I don't know which piece of fruit is my son's  favorite...I would guess that he likes them all!

Crackle glass fruit sparkling in the sunshine.   As I said previously, my son has always admired hand blown glass.  In fact, he is now taking classes and learning this amazing skill.  I hope he gets a chance to try to crackle glass someday!

* Crackle Glass reference books:  Crackle Glass, and Crackle Glass Book II,  by Stan and Arlene Weitman.

Gourds, Gourds, and more Gourds!

Yes, I like gourds.  They remind me of fall and the changing colors of trees, farmer's markets, canning, pumpkins, cornstalks, and gourds.  I am a gourd artist and I like to embellish hard shell gourds.  They are an interesting medium to work with because you can do so many different things with them.  So, I have a collection of gourds just waiting to be carved, painted, dyed, burned, drilled....

There are many types of gourds.  The above picture shows 17 different kinds of gourds.

My husband and I go to a gourd farm in April to harvest gourds that have been left in the fields all winter.  Most of the gourds are dry, but some of the larger gourds are still in the drying process.  Over the winter, a mold grows on the gourds, along with the addition of a lot of dirt. The mold often gives the gourd shell interesting patterns.  These "cannon ball" gourds still have the mold coating and have not been cleaned.

My wonderful husband cleans all of the gourds for me....I know, I'm really lucky!

This is a kettle gourd with the top removed.  The rim has a philodendron sheath laced with waxed linen.

This is another kettle gourd with acrylic lines and a date palm rim.

This is a large canteen gourd with leather dyed leaf designs.

This is a kettle gourd with long pine needles laced at the rim.

This is an Indonesian Bottle gourd with acrylic designs.

This is a short handled dipper gourd with a pine needle rim.

All of these gourds are decorated with acrylic flowers.  The top gourd is a kettle gourd, the bottom left is a small martin house gourd, and the bottom right is a cannon ball gourd.

This is a kettle gourd with a wheat rim.

This is a basket ball gourd with acrylic lines, variegated leather dyes, and pine needle rim.

I decorated these gourds after having seen "The Lion King" on stage.  Both gourds are medium sized Martin house gourds.   The top gourd is painted with acrylic paint and woven fiber, the bottom gourd is also painted with acrylic paint and the rim is braided cording.

These kettle gourds are "painted" with silk dyes.  The top gourd has a felted wool rim and the bottom gourd has a silk embroidered rim.

This gourd is a large kettle gourd with pine needle rim and an agate medallion.

This Martin house gourd has leather dye graphics and a pine needle rim.

This cannon ball gourd has an acrylic designed lid with a beaded handle.  The top is attached with a hinge.

This is a kettle gourd with a pine needle rim and an agate medallion.

This is a Martin house gourd with a date palm rim.

This is a large kettle gourd with Femo snakes.

This is an apple gourd with dyed leaves cut from gourds.

This is a medium sized dipper gourd with a pine needle rim.

This is a Martin house gourd with a leather laced rim and copper medallion.

This is a tobacco box gourd with leather dye designs.

This is an Indonesian bottle gourd with philodendron sheath rim and embellishment, along with copper wire and beads.

These gourds are decorated with leather dyes and acrylic lines.  The top and bottom left gourds have corded rims.

This is long handled dipper gourd that is used as a wall design.  Embellishments include wheat, dried seed pods, philodendron sheaths, and pussy willows.

This kettle gourd has a pine needle rim.

This kettle gourd is dyed with a leather dye.  It has a pine needle rim and a Petoskey stone medallion.

This is  very large African kettle gourd with a pine needle rim.  The leaves are cut from gourds and colored with leather dyes.

Gourds have been used for centuries as functional implements; to carry things, store food and liquids, and used as cooking pots or as utensils.  I love to look for gourds at history museums and get ideas for embellishments from long ago. The next time you are in a "Field and History" museum, keep your eye open for gourds.

I hope you like my gourd collection...... have a great day!