An Appealing Mid 20thC Articulated Carousel Tin Horse From a Fairground Ride

Origin: English
Period: Mid Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1940-60
Height: 30 inches
Length: 27 inches
Width: 11 inches

The tin horse, with a red saddle and harness and tartan saddle blanket, with well-defined legs, mane and tail, and swing footrest under, the legs on wheels and the limbs articulated.

In as found original condition, the horse has a consistent amount of rusting to its exterior, the wheels remain but they need loosening somewhat, and the articulated legs and neck are in working, moving order. We’ve called him Rusty for obvious reasons.

More than likely from a child’s four or six horse small spinner, Rusty would have been part of a carousel roundabout, though there are similar tin examples that were baby strollers with support handles for pushing though we can rule this out here because of the prescence of the footrest though there are wheels which may suggest he was part of a different fairground ride altogether. There is no doubting though he was ridden by small children for decades.

Regardless, Rusty is evocative of the fairground, and proves to be an appealing nugget of carnival ware, now masquerading as a decorative pleasure; one can almost smell the candy-floss.