1870's BOY ON VELOCIPEDE TOY, CLOCKWORK, STEVENS & BROWN TOY CO., ALL ORIGINAL

Description: All original circa 1870's clockwork boy on velocipede toy. This fine early American toy was made by the Stevens & Brown Toy Company of Connecticut. The curved tin clockwork housing with the mechanism was patented by Arthur M. Allen of New York City on January 25, & February 1, 1870. The curved tin clockwork housing area has a fancy stenciled design. This is a large, impressive, & charming toy which measures approximately 10 inches long by 8 3/4 inches tall by 5 1/4 inches wide across the back section. The back wheels have a diameter of 4 7/8 inches. The toy weighs in at 1 pound 6.7 ounces. The wheels & handle bar area are cast iron. The cast iron wheels are dark green. The wheels & axle have some minor areas of rust. But, the major majority of the original dark green paint is still present on the wheels. The painted tin clockwork housing, which has considerable wear to the paint, is dark blue with gold trim. The boy's head is cloth based composition. The boy's hands & feet are stamped brass. The interior structure of the body is metal & wood. Some of the clothing feels like it is made of wool. Two similar examples are pictured on page 36 & there is a story about them on pages 35-37 in the book "American Clockwork Toys 1862-1900" by Blair Whitton. The following info in reference to the heads used on Stevens & Brown velocipede toys is on page 37 in the Whitton book: "The cloth base doll head used on most of the velocipede figures was patented by George W. Hawkins, of New York City, on September 8, 1868. He received a second patent on January, 5, 1869, with the "Improvements in the Manufacture of Doll Heads". This invention relates to the dies and tools employed in forming and uniting the two parts or halves of hollow doll heads, which were formed of textile materials such as buckram or muslin, saturated with wet size or starch." The toy is complete & with all original paint & all original clothes. There are no repairs, no replacement components, & no touch ups. The figure of the boy rider, which is much scarcer than the more frequently found girl, has entirely original clothes. The original striped pants are faded, heavily browned, have numerous tears, & are missing a few small parts of the cloth. But, although with assorted flaws, the major majority of the original cloth of the pants is still present. The black jacket has some areas which feel like soft velvet to the touch. Other areas of the jacket have the soft surface material worn off & are stiff to the touch. There is a strip of fancy piping at the collar which is well worn. There are a few tiny buttons missing from the front of the jacket. The cloth based composition head has all original paint showing some wear, paint flakes, some soiling from age, & some hairlines, and a pushed in place on one jaw. But, in person the head looks nicer than pics as the close up pics emphasize all of the flaws. There is absolutely no touch-up to the head & no touch-ups to any other components of the toy. We DO NOT have a key for the toy. But, the mechanism has been tested several times & the toy is in sound working condition. Important note: the mechanism winds counter clockwise. The toy shows some overall wear from use to the various components as mentioned in the details above. The toy has not been cleaned as we have chosen to leave the toy exactly as found. A delightful & appealing early American toy with lots of charm which is nice to find in all original condition. Please examine the photos closely & purchase based on your own judgement as to condition & value. This item is inventory #8787. Shipping is free and available only to addresses within the U.S.

Price: 1575 USD

Location: Lampeter, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-03-15T19:31:38.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD