4 Antique Britains Metal Lead Horse Escort Toy Guard Soldier Figurines 3.5"

Description

Set of four antique hollow cast lead toy Royal Horse Guard figures, produced between 1911-1914 by Britains Ltd, as part of the set “Types of the British Army.” “The firm of Britains Ltd was established by William Britain (1828-1906) a toy maker of Birmingham, England, in about 1845. He moved his family to a house at 28 Lambton Road, Hornsey Rise, in north-east London and there gradually established a cottage industry involving the family, producing ingenious mechanical clockwork toys but these were too expensive to be mass produced.

A major development for the company occurred in 1893 when William Britain Jnr found a way of casting lead figures that were hollow, more lifelike, and most importantly more economical than the two dimensional solid figures known as flats that had been made by German toy manufacturers. (Despite this claim, the origin of the hollow-cast method has also been attributed to Germany). The first Britains set was of mounted Life Guards. Britains experimented with new ideas and in 1896 figures with movable arms were introduced. This involved a separate casting with a loop at the shoulder end that slipped over a stud-like projection. Moveable arms provided better 'play value' for children but also led to loose arms which became detached. From the 1930s new replacement arms could be purchased from the company and toy shops.

William Junior designed and cut all the models for toys soldiers which at first were quite crude and often incorrectly proportioned. However, they rapidly improved with every new model released and this, together with new painting techniques, saw the company become renowned for hollow-cast lead toys especially in regard to attention to detail and emphasis on research to ensure accuracy of uniforms and arms. By 1900 the company had produced over 100 different sets.

The method of commercially producing the hollow-cast soldiers involved pouring the molten metal into hinged brass moulds by hand. The metal was an alloy, a mixture of lead, tin and antinomy. As it cooled, the alloy formed a skin around the shape inside the mould. The mould was then turned upside down and the residue metal streamed out through a funnel in the mould. Air holes were left at strategic points to make sure that metal reached the extremities of the mould. The thinner parts of the model, such as horses' legs and rifle barrels, were left solid to prevent breakages. Skilled operators could produce 300 castings per hour.

The size and scale of toy soldiers were based on the scale of the then most popular size of toy trains, 1 gauge. The soldiers were 54 mm (2 1/8 inches) tall and this has since been referred to as the Standard Scale. At first Britain's made regiments from the United Kingdom including mounted Life Guards, the household cavalry of the Queen, foot soldiers and guardsmen. William's younger brother, Frederick, became the salesman of the family and set out to convince the conservative-minded British store-owners that Britains lead soldiers were worthy of being sold alongside the German Heyde figures made in Dresden and the French Mignot pieces made in Paris. Initially business was slow due to these imports but the expansion of the British Empire in the later decades of the nineteenth century resulted in a larger Royal Navy and British Army with new battalions. The company then developed a new series based on contemporary events and in 1897 model troops of the Empire began to appear, celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Britains opened an office in Paris in 1905 and models were adapted for the French market. British Royal and ceremonial occasions such as the accession to the British throne, coronations and trooping the colour provided an opportunity to issue souvenir and ceremonial lines connected with the Royal family. Britain's became a limited company on 4 December 1907 and the new board of directors included William Britain Jnr, Alfred Britain, Fredrick Britain, Edward Britain and Frank Britain. Like other companies in 1914 they were encouraged by the British government to produce toys of a patriotic nature, so cannon on gun carriages and soldiers poised for battle joined the range of model soldiers.

The 1920s saw a dramatic change in the Britains product range. The company introduced US army and navy figures as well as South American soldiers and Canadian Mounties, but sales plummeted due to the rejection of military-style war toys after the carnage of the First World War. Britains responded by introducing farm, zoo and circus series.

Production at Britains went from strength to strength. Extensions to the house next door at Lambton Road, Hornsey Rise, eventually culminated in the whole block being torn down and a factory, warehouse and office complex established with some 300 workers. Eventually another factory, known as the North Light Building, was constructed at Walthamstow, also in north-east London, where the Britains Model Home Farms production was moved to in 1931.

Britains began its numbering systems for sets from either 1897 or 1898 and the boxes were numbered on the lids. By the time the Model Home Farms series was launched in 1923, the military sets were up to No.250. The sets ranged from a standard single row of eight infantrymen or five cavalry to the top-of-the-range, Set No.131, with 275 pieces.

From 1900 Britains toy soldiers were signed and given the date the master figure was made, either under the base of the figure or belly of the horse. This was done to protect the firm against design piracy from competitors. Initially paper labels were attached but later details were embossed into the bases. Dating continued until the Copyright Act of 1911 was introduced after which it was only necessary to provide the maker's name. However, some figures with dates were made well into the 1920s before new moulds were put into production. Zinc alloy models made after the Second World War had no lettering on their bases.

The Britains company prepared its own paint pigments and staff painted all the figures. Only after the Second World War did the firm begin using outside paint suppliers and outworkers for painting. The first types of paint probably contained less varnish so earlier models soldiers have a matt finish. Until 1902 only rifle buts were painted a brown colour and the rest was left as bare metal. Swords were never painted silver but also left as bare metal.”

Condition

Good Overall - Some wear to paint; three of four hand held swords broken; wear to tips of feathers/ears

Dimensions

3.5” x 1” x 3.125” (Width x Depth x Height)