Children all over the world will be looking forward to opening their presents on Christmas day in a few weeks time. One such lucky child back in the 1920’s/30’s would have been in awe finding this little toy glistening under the Christmas tree.
It is a realistic model of an early monoplane propeller aircraft made by the German firm Gunthermann in the 1920’s/30’s. The body is made of tinplate and decorated with lithographs to form the livery. A pilot sits in the cockpit. The real magic of this toy is that it has a clockwork motor and performs a take off and landing trick. The maker’s mark takes pride of place on the nose.
The First World War brought great advances in the design and performance of aircraft and by the mid 1920’s commercial aviation became firmly established. Toy makers in Germany, (and Britain) capitalised on this and began to produce detailed models of monoplanes and biplanes. The Gunthermann firm was founded in Nuremburg in 1887 and grew rapidly. By 1901 it was employing 250 people. The ‘SG’ trademark can be found on toys produced onwards
Early tinplate and clockwork toys are highly collectable today, usually by grown ups. No longer ‘toys’ as such. They evoke a bygone era of ‘real’ toys, as opposed to the computer games of today. Aeronautical toys have a particular charm, although O Gauge trains by Hornby and the German counterparts such as Bing and Marklin also have a huge following.
This plane was discovered on a routine valuation day in Sutton Coldfield by Adrian Rathbone, Associate at Richard Winterton Auctioneers of Lichfield. It is estimated to fetch over £100 when offered in the Toy, Antique & Collectors Sale on 14th December. The sale also includes a variety of model trains (Hornby and Wrenn), dolls and diecast toys such as Dinky and Matchbox.
Toy valuations days are held at the Lichfield Auction Centre and Sutton Coldfield valuation office. Contact the Auctioneers for further details on 01543 251081 or email [email protected]
www.richardwinterton.co.uk
