A quantity of mechanical tinplate toys, late 20th century, to include: Performing...

A quantity of mechanical tinplate toys, late 20th century, to include: Performing Elephant by Josef Wagner, Germany, coloured tinplate, wood, marked Alles Nurnberger Blechspielzeug and Made in Germany, with a globe ringed by a ribbon marked JW in plain unmarked box plain, 23cm high, 21cm wide; another similar; a clockwork Carousel, attributed to Josef Wagner, Germany, 1980's, coloured tinplate, 18cm high; a reproduction tinplate clockwork Zeppelin by Schilling Associates Inc, 23.5cm wide; a Fairground Swing by Josef Wagner, 22cm wide; Speedway Auto Racer, Schylling, coloured tinplate, approx. 36.5cm diameter; a boxed reproduction clockwork Carousel, by Paya, Spain, 1990, approx. 18cm high; other Paya reproduction clockwork tinplate toys, to include a Trapeze artist, approx. 19cm high; and other toys (lot)

Sir Nicholas Goodison noted:

Performing Elephant: The balls rise up the Archimedes screw, at the top of which there is a rotating Chinese umbrella and fall into the bottomless basin held by the elephant. Meanwhile the three wings held up by the elephants trunk rotate at speed. He is a versatile elephant, which is what circuses want. The base is decorated with a double frieze of a procession of minstrels, elephants, dromedaries and horses.

Speedway Auto Racer: The clockwork is wound by lever. The speedway tilts in a circular motion, propelling the cars round the track. There are frequent crashes as cars career round and are clearly driven by spectacularly bad drivers, but the design is ingenious. The drum is printed with a panoramic picture of crowds in stands.

Provenance:

Performing Elephant: Purchased, Hawkin & Co., Norfolk, March 1996.

Speedway Auto Racer: Purchased, Selfridges, London, May 2003.

Roseberys do not guarantee the working order of any automata or toy.