Hello,
today I'm showing you more Austrian Dragoons from Abadie!
The reason is that a very dear friend gave me a missing printing sheet for Christmas. Thanks again so much, Jonathan!
So today I can finally show you the second 2.5D Dragoon sheet I know of. It depicts a general, an officer, and a trumpeter.
And for the sake of completeness, here's the second variant again, with the three enlisted riders.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
Today I'll try to give a brief introduction to "Spiel-Soldaten zum Aufstellen".
These are figures that were quite widespread in Europe. They were available in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France, and presumably in other countries as well.
The figures themselves were printed as glossy images (known as "Oblaten," "Glanzbilder," "scraps," or "chromos"), embossed, and die-cut. Typically, five of these figures were glued onto rectangular paper frames. This allowed them to be folded flat and, when unfolded, placed directly onto the paper frames, creating upright figures. A simple yet ingenious solution!
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| The Schuler figurines have the company name printed on the paper strips. (picture shows some damaged figures) |
The figures became so widespread because they were used as promotional items by well-known companies of the time (late 19th and early 20th centuries). For example, by the German sewing supplies company "Schürer" and the Swiss detergent manufacturer "Schuler." Some department stores and pharmacies also used these figures, but unlike the two companies mentioned earlier, they did not have their company names printed on the back.
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| Schürer figurines have the company name printed directly on the back of the figurines. |
These figures were given away individually (meaning a paper frame with five figures each) and also in various denominations in small cardboard boxes.
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| This box is only described "neutrally" as "Schürer soldier figures." However, there are also Schürer boxes with other labels that describe their respective contents. |
Presumably, the existing larger cardboard boxes containing approximately 15 groups of figures were also available for purchase.
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| The larger boxes contain two rows of soldiers (usually 15 sets) and have the contents etc. printed on them. |
To date, I am aware of ten different series of these figures. Nine of them depict the troops of various nations at the turn of the century. A tenth series is dedicated to the soldiers of Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia).
I am familiar with the following:
-Army of Frederick II
-Germany (series comprises 4 boxes)
-England (series comprises 3 boxes)
-France (series comprises 3 boxes)
-Italy
-Japan (series comprises 3 boxes)
-Russia (series comprises 3 boxes)
-Switzerland (series comprises 3 boxes)
-Spain
-Turkey
The name of the nation and the respective branch of service or regiment is printed on the bottom of the base – and as far as I know, always in German language. So far, I have only come across a few Swiss figures with completely unprinted bases.
Who produced these figures? No manufacturer's name appears on the figures themselves or on the cardboard boxes they come in. If anything, there are stickers or names of the companies that used them as advertising items. I got the manufacturer's name, "Luxuspapierfabrik Berlin" (Luxury Paper Factory Berlin), from another collector. In Berlin, there was a paper figure manufacturer called "Hohenstein & Lange," which changed its name to "Berliner Luxuspapierfabrik A.G." in 1898. However, at that time, there were several "luxury paper factories" in Berlin that weren't necessarily connected. Whether there's any connection between these folding figures and Hohenstein & Lange is unknown, so I'm treating them as a separate manufacturer.
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| Papeterie M.Hostettler in Geneva was one of probably many shops that sold these soldiers. |
The figures are always 8.5 cm tall. The cavalry and artillery teams are therefore slightly smaller in scale than the foot figures.
My intention here is simply to provide a brief introduction to these figures. I will present the corresponding figures from my collection gradually in separate posts.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
today I'm showing you another "Spaniard". Even a "double" one, if you will—a printed sheet produced in Spain depicting Spanish soldiers.
It's number 21 from the Barcelona-based manufacturer La Editorial Roma and belongs to the "Constucciones Fernandito" series. This series was printed between 1942 and 1945 and comprised a total of 25 sheets.
The sheet shows nine cavalrymen. As is typical for this series, the figures are very small; the horse and rider measure between 4.5 and 5 cm. This corresponds to a man's height of 30 to 32 mm.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
Today I'm showing you a mini-sheet from JFS. Many of these sheets bear a Roman numeral in addition to their actual numbering. Unfortunately, the meaning behind it is unknown.
My guess is that it represents some connection to the "large" printed sheets with the same motif. At least it's noticeable that the mini-motifs that aren't known as the larger version don't have a Roman numeral.
Otherwise, four of these miniature sheets were printed on one bigger paper sheet. However, the combination of the four motifs seems to have been arbitrary. At least some surviving examples in museums show different combinations.
The sheet shown here has the number 354 and the Roman numeral LXIV (64) and depicts four figures of Italian artillery.
The figure size is approximately 4.5 cm.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
today I'm showing you a find from the French eBay. These are soldiers from printing sheet No. 1, featuring French infantry by Gustave Fischbach.
These figures, drawn by Alfred Touchemolin, were printed with oil paints between 1873 and 1914. Unfortunately, only 7 of the 27 figures on the sheet have survived.
The figures are mounted on thick cardboard. Two of the figures needed wooden supports to stand upright again, and one bayonet had to be reattached, but otherwise they are in quite good condition. They are 9 cm tall.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello,
today I'm showing you an Abadie "Soldatenbilderbogen" from the first series. It's the only one I know of that depicts English soldiers.
Besides several khaki-clad "colonial army soldiers," there are also four figures in red parade uniforms.
The figures are 6 cm tall, typical of Abadie.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello and Happy New Year to you all!
Today I'm showing you a figure sheet from Rauert & Pittius in Sorau. It's number 7 and was the first in a series of 11 sheets depicting the Guard troops of the German Empire.
It shows the band of the Prussian 1.Guard Regiment (zu Fuß). Unfortunately, my copy is a bit worn, and the printing is slightly out of register, so the figures appear a little blurry and not as sharp and high-contrast as is usually the case with Rapi.
Nevertheless, they are wonderful figures that very accurately represent the characteristics of this regiment's uniforms.
This series was probably produced in the early 1930s.
The figures are 8 cm tall.
Best regards,
Andreas
Hello, It’s time once again to look at a paper soldier sheet from Rauert & Pittius of Sorau! This time, I’m sharing number 138, which de...
