Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Art of Play: The Buhler Tin Monkey, c. 1950

Tin Monkey
Made in England
Circa 1950
The Victoria & Albert Museum



Tin Monkey! Yay! From the Michael Buhler collection of tin toys at the V&A, we have this English toy monkey which was made around 1950. The very first tin toys appeared in the U.S. in the Nineteenth Century, but the medium quickly spread to Europe where it was employed for decades. 



Chances are, this handsome monkey was designed to be part of a circus set. He has blue trousers painted on and a red and cream vest top with yellow ribbon edging Clearly, he is costumed for a circus act. At his left simian side, there is a hole on where a key or winder could fit. Winding the mechanism allowed for his arms and legs to spin all the way around--enabling the monkey to do a fine somersault.

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