HISTORY

The history of the tin figure

Tin is one of the oldest well-known metals. In prehistory it was already used to make bronze tools and ornaments. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. The most important places of finding were the Taurus Mountains in Turkey and Cornwall in England . English tin has been found in Egypt pharaoh graves of before 2000 B.C. And one supposes that the Romans invaded England above all things to get these tin mines in their hands. Tin was widely used from antiquity till the 18th century for waterworks, dinner - and drinking things (jugs, plates, spoons and so on)

The oldest known tin figures we know are burial gifts. In 3.500 B.C. the complete household of a deceased Sumerian king was entombed with him to serve their king in the afterlife. Later on miniature figures took the place of the victims in: soldiers, household, tools, wagons, boats, houses, stables and cattle.

In Carinthia a lead wagon, drawn by twelve draught-animals, from the 6th century B.C. was found together with several lead fertility statues. From other countries finds of 4,5 - 5 cm high lead fertility statues are known too.

From 14th till the 16th century A.D. "Kannengheter" (pewter craftsmen) made tin pilgrim badges in mass. A bit place of pilgrimage sold easily more than 100.000 pilgrim badges per year. In 1466 in Einsiedeln ( Switzerland ), during the days of St. Meinrad, 130.000 pilgrim badges were sold for 2 pence each.

Medieval pilgrim badges

Pilgrims wear badges as prove of their pilgrimage. Wearing badges was the fashion in medieval times. For that reason it should be not only pilgrims who wear badges on their hats or clothes. And the image of the badges was not only religious of character, but also profane and sometimes downright rude.

In the 16th century together with the arrival of the Reformation the fashion to wear badges comes abrupt to an end. In The Netherlands pewter craftsmen made 'poppengoed'. They produced Dutch revolutionary soldiers, possible chauvinistic symbols against the Spanish rulers, but also miniature household goods for doll's houses. Especially at the reconstruction of Rotterdam, after World War II, a lot of such 'poppengoed' was found in excavated building sites.

16th century soldiers

In the second half of the 16th century pewter craftsmen get competition from the production of Cologne jars from the Rhine area in Germany . Later China-ware and good quality earthenware oust the tin dinner things from the market. When wars throw up export hindrances, pewter craftsmen have to look for other products to survive. The Enlightenment with its pedagogic ideals for children offers an alternative production of tin toy's figures.

In the second half of the 18th century especially in Germany in the towns Nürnberg and Fürth tens of workshops come into existence, which applies themselves to tin toy's figures. For boys figures from daily life such as: meadow cattle's, markets, hunting - and garden parties. However too: exotic animals and foreign people. For girls tin doll's houses things were made.

18th century tin children's toys

In the second half of the 19th century tin figures transformed in tin soldiers. In these days nationalism was rampant in Europe. Only in the towns Nürnberg and Fürth, the most important production centres of tin figures, forty million tin soldiers were made per year. In those times tin figures are a kind of children's news paper. The pictures which father sees in his newspaper are the tin figures of his son the next day.

tin figures, sold per series in chip wood boxes

About 1870 the Golden Age of lead soldiers comes into existence (Heyde, Noris, Wollner, CBG Mignot, Britains ). These toy's figures were feared competition to the flat tin figures, because they were little bigger (ca. 5 cm .), solid and less vulnerable in a child's hand.

At the outbreak of World War I there was no market anymore for tin figures. After the war there is a lot of competition from mechanical toys. The character of tin figures alters . From children's toys they become a hobby of fathers, who personate historical events with tin figures. The Jewish businessman Otto Gottstein (1892-1951) tremendously stimulated the development of socio historic figures. He ordered the production of upward up to 1.000 figures, from dinosaurs till Montezuma. With that figures Gottstein made magnificent dioramas. Gottstein ordered leading historians and costume experts (archaeologist professor Paul Couissin, curator Paul Martin and the theatre author and costume expert Petrococino [pseudonym Paul Armont]) to design historical justified figures.

From 1980 continually luxurious round (or 3D) figures comes into the market, whereas the quality of painting of figures improves by leaps and bound. Mike Taylor elevates the painting of tin figures to miniature art painting and he get lots of very talented followers.

Artistic miniature painting

A short film of the dutch broadcast in which the manager of our museum gives a short explanation about the history of tin figures as children's toys (in dutch).