Nous utilisons des cookies pour optimiser notre site web et notre service.
Le stockage ou l’accès technique est strictement nécessaire dans la finalité d’intérêt légitime de permettre l’utilisation d’un service spécifique explicitement demandé par l’abonné ou l’utilisateur, ou dans le seul but d’effectuer la transmission d’une communication sur un réseau de communications électroniques.
Le stockage ou l’accès technique est nécessaire dans la finalité d’intérêt légitime de stocker des préférences qui ne sont pas demandées par l’abonné ou l’utilisateur.
Le stockage ou l’accès technique qui est utilisé exclusivement à des fins statistiques.
Le stockage ou l’accès technique qui est utilisé exclusivement dans des finalités statistiques anonymes. En l’absence d’une assignation à comparaître, d’une conformité volontaire de la part de votre fournisseur d’accès à internet ou d’enregistrements supplémentaires provenant d’une tierce partie, les informations stockées ou extraites à cette seule fin ne peuvent généralement pas être utilisées pour vous identifier.
Le stockage ou l’accès technique est nécessaire pour créer des profils d’utilisateurs afin d’envoyer des publicités, ou pour suivre l’utilisateur sur un site web ou sur plusieurs sites web ayant des finalités marketing similaires.
The tin soldier. Small historical reminder.
The expression “lead soldier” is a generic term. It encompasses both plastic and tinplate soldier, as well as composition and aluminum. This quick overview of the subject will perhaps allow curious neophytes to see a little more clearly.
Tin soldiers. (Soldats de plomb), (Bleisoldaten).
The three great nations of the lead soldier, as we know, were Germany, France and England.
German makers.
Germany and France have always been competitors in the export markets. The big German manufacturers were Heyde, Haffner, Noris and Krause who offered a wide choice of themes and sizes in their catalog of small soldiers and figurines. The Germans were renowned for their imagination and the poetry of their compositions. The theme of the circus, the animal world (zoo and menagerie), that of the nativity, (cribs) was particularly developed. The sizes, 48mm, 60mm, 75mm, “ronde-bosse” or half-“ronde-bosse”, increased the choice for the collector. Spenkuch, Schneider and Bischoff were also popular German manufacturers, as was Wollner in Austria.
The french makers.
In France, in 1870, three partners created the firm C.B.G., (Cupperly, Blondel and Gerbeau), and offered “toys in pewter and English metal”. The firm will be taken over by Henri Mignot in 1907 and will take the final name of C.B.G.-Mignot. The company has stood the test of time and fashions, and continues to operate today, headed by Loïc Pemzec. CBG-Mignot is thus the oldest “big brand”: (it started its activity around the same time as Heyde in Germany). She is also the last survivor in the world. The catalog by itself is a reflection of world history for almost a century.
From antiquity to the Middle Ages, from the Empire to the colonies, CBG has produced almost everything. The farm, the hunt with hounds, the zoo, the Indians and the cowboys, but also the French army with the infantry, the cavalry and the artillery. The sets were presented in diorama boxes evoking a fight or a visit by the Czar to Paris. The firm published among other things, the expedition to the North Pole as well as the great maneuvers and even the tales of Perrault (Tom Thumb) etc.
Packaging in diorama, drop-down or multi-storey boxes was a specialty of CBG-Mignot. The Germans used very little this presentation. Other French manufacturers specialized in the lead soldier. In particular Bertrand and Vertunni (B.V.), who edited a collection of soldiers from the Great War, including infantry, cavalry and top quality artillery. The painting of the uniforms was particularly neat and the colors well respected.
Lucotte is certainly the emblematic brand of fans of the First Empire. Almost all of Napoleon’s grand army has been represented. Hussars, dragoons, riflemen and other mounted hunters were painted in all regimental variations, as were infantry and artillery. Lucotte also produced a very wide range of the armies of the 1914-18 conflict. This brand still exists, managed by Edouard Pemzec.
Finally, we must mention two manufacturers who produced both solid lead soldiers and hollow lead soldiers: Xavier Raphanel (X.R.) and Louis Prieur (L.P.). Maison Simon et Rivolet (S.R.) was renowned for his teams of horses, artillery trains and caissons that it manufactured until the Second World War.
Les fabricants anglais.
The English manufacture is best known thanks to the Britains brand, which produced an extraordinary collection of Hollow-Cast Figures. It was William Britain who invented at the end of the 19th century, the principle of “reviding” a soldier cast in lead, so that less material is used, and thus lower the cost of production and the selling price. L
The Britains firm focused mainly on the British army, but also produced a wide range of foreign troops during the First World War. Thanks to its privileged trade links with the Commonwealth and the United States, Britains inundated the Anglo-Saxon world with its small soldiers. Other manufacturers, much more modest, also produced hollow lead figurines; Timpo-Toys, Johillco, Cherilea and Charbens among others.
Composition soldiers.
The soldiers in compound material, or “composition Toy Soldiers”, “soldats en composition” in France,”Soldatini di Cartapesta” in Italy or “Masse-Soldaten-Figuren” in Germany were very popular in Europe between 1850 and 1950. This specialty is above all represented by the very rare and former soldiers “Giroux”, from the name of the Parisian luxury department store, which had them specially manufactured from 1830, in the region of Sonneberg, in German Thuringia.
French makers.
In France, it was the great soldiers of S.F.B.J., representing the belligerents of 1914-1918, as well as the soldiers in “papier mâché”, with the naive lines of Bon-Dufour and Villard and Weill, who delighted children. Cellose and Résistex, are also regularly present in the windows of the collectors, thanks to their series of infantry and cavalry of the French army of the second world war.
Finally JRD, known for its “Art Deco” style, edited a wide range of soldiers, created for the colonial exhibition of 1931, and representing all facets of the French infantry of the time, with special effort. on the Zouaves, the Spahis, the Meharists, the Algerian Riflemen and Senegalese Riflemen. We must not forget the firm Dommage & Compagnie, better known by its initials D.C., which created around 1939, soldiers in “Plaster and Flour” (plâtre et farine) sold at the time at low prices, which offered a wide choice of subjects.
German makers.
Germany was the leader in this area with the brands Elastolin (Hausser) and Lineol. The Western and the wild animals were widely represented, but of course, it is especially the German army that of 1914-1918 and that of 1939-1940 which was abundantly produced. First very large (17 cm), the size of the soldiers will decrease to stabilize at 70mm. A wide range of tinplate vehicles accompanied this army made of sawdust and glue. Note the German firms Leyla, Plastinol and Froha which produced interesting series and especially the Tipple-Topple brand (Emil Pfeiffer) in Vienna, which from 1890 manufactured high quality soldiers, much sought after today.
Belgium and Italian Makers.
In addition, the Belgian manufacturers had specialized in the compound material which they called “soldiers in paste”. The best known of these is the firm Durso, located in Liège, but we must also mention Nazaire Beeusaert (NB), Incamim, GJ, Solido, Bon-Marché (BM), and Triumf. In Italy, the brands Figir, Confalonieri, Chialu, Nardi and Landi offered a wide range of Indians and cowboys, medieval knights and soldiers, especially colonial troops.
Stapled sheet soldiers.
Two French firms are renowned for having manufactured from the end of the nineteenth century, soldiers and civilian figurines in white metal, made of two stamped halves, welded or stapled together and painted by hand. These are the houses FV (Faivre Edmond) and CR (Charles Rossignol), which produced many boxes of soldiers, riders, firefighters but also civilian scenes. Some series were published in lithographed sheet metal, very characteristic of the toy soldier. F.V. and C.R. produced until the end of the 1920s Stapled sheet soldiers.
Flat Tin Soldiers. (Zinnfiguren). (Plats d’étain).
Pewter plate figurines are unquestionably a German specialty. Certainly, before 1789, very naïve engraved figurines were sold in Paris, evoking the soldiers of the time, with the silhouette with the bicornuate hat, artillerymen or French guards. They were sold by weight, by traveling trinkets, at low prices, barely decorated with a single touch of blue or red paint. A little later, one will find in Strasbourg pharmacies which seem to have known a certain success (Bergman).
But as we said above, it is the region of Nuremberg and Fürth which housed the largest manufacturers of tin plates. Hilpert, Ammon, Besold, Sohlke, Haffner are among the oldest, but it is especially Allgeyer and Heinrichsen who are the two giants of the specialty. The extent of production is incredible. There is not a theme, a conflict, an event which has not been “covered” by the edition of a series. What about the armies, from antiquity to the Renaissance, from the Hundred Years War to the Crusades, from the Thirty Years War to that of Secession, from the Italo-Turkish conflict to the Russo-Japanese one, nothing was forgotten.
In addition, C.B.G.- Mignot produced in 1931, a collection of pewter dishes covering the entire period of French history from the Gallo-Roman period until the First World War. The very beautiful engraving of these figurines, created by Monsieur Pépin from the drawings of Lucien Rousselot, was a great success, and were painted by many figurine artists.
Extremely popular until the interwar years, this type of collection has lost its popularity since then.
Hollow-cast figures. (Les soldats en plomb creux).
Before the first war, the Englishman William Britain created a subsidiary in Paris in order to distribute the soldiers of the Britains brand. This branch was called Paris-Office. Very quickly the French were inspired by it and began to manufacture soldiers with original graphics. French hollow lead, for its style and fantasy, is appreciated by collectors all over the world. The topics covered are the circus and the zoo, the farm and the hunt, history (from the Romans to the Empire), the Far West, school and class, sports, the nursery, and of course, the colonial theme, civil and military scenes in Indochina, Black Africa and North Africa.
The main manufacturers were Georges Muncklé (GM), Le Jouet Fondu, (JF) then (JSF Jouet Standard Français), Dommage et Compagnie (DC), Blancherie Frères (BF), Louis Roussy (LR), Henri Roger (HR) Xavier Raphanel (XR), Charles Sylvester (CS), Charles Debeffe, Ailor, Charles Lanoy, (CL) and Louis Prieur (LP). CBG Mignot also manufactured a fairly complete range of hollow lead figurines, and in particular very large stylized 110 mm soldiers, called “soldiers for children’s rooms”.
Aluminium soldiers.
Quiralu.
Typically French, the aluminum soldier, is embodied by the firm Quiralu, founded by Emile Quirin, which began to produce in 1933 large flat cast aluminum figurines. Then came the 60mm round-shaped figures, representing the “modern” French army of 1936. The success was immediate for Quiralu, to the detriment of the hollow lead soldiers very popular at the time. Only the high price of this fine production was an obstacle to the hegemony of the Quiralu soldier. The firm also manufactured a whole choice of accessories in wood (Boislux), farms, castles, Noah’s ark, circus, which allowed to stage the figurines. A wide range of agricultural couplings, tractors and equipment was also distributed.
Other manufacturers.
To counter Quiralu, most manufacturers of hollow lead added to their catalog a range of aluminum soldiers. Mignalu (CBG Mignot), Aludo (D.C.), Gémalux (GM), Beffalu (Charles Debeffe). Gradually Aluminum took precedence over hollow lead, which disappeared completely after the liberation. After the war, a few new manufacturers were created: Bicail and Ganivet, Robert Ficher (RF), and Ninin. Abroad, the brands Kroolyn (Denmark) and Wend-Al (England) produced aluminum series, based on Linéol models for the first and Quiralu for the second.
Collectible soldiers. Artist figurines.
We place in this category, manufacturers who, from the start of their production, addressed the collector and not the recipient of a toy. The little soldiers detailed above were initially dedicated to children. This initial vocation was very quickly diverted by adults who began to build collections.
The manufacturers.
Two manufacturers are recognized as publisher of collectible soldiers: – First, Gustave Vertunni who offered a very complete collection of kings and queens of France, high dignitaries, warlords, mistresses, favorites and soldiers time. This collection, for the quality of the engraving and the finesse of its paintings, was always very successful.
– In addition, the Belgian brand MIM (Maximus In Minimus), 1938-1948, which specialized in the representation of figurines from antiquity and the First Empire. Their large size 60 mm and 70 mm, the quality of the engraving, the numerous welded accessories, as well as their rarity (they were only manufactured during ten years), make M.I.M soldiers, very sought after pieces. Alymer and Labayen in Spain, Stadden and Rose Miniatures in England must also be included in this category.
Artist figurines.
The “French school” of figurines flourished between 1940 and 1980. But forerunners like Gaston Auger, started before the war. The artists worked on rudimentary forms, which they “dressed” with lead sheet. The figurine was painted in oils. Gaston Auger and Pierre Alexandre displayed a naïve and endearing style. Although working alone, they nevertheless ensured a small production, which today makes the happiness of collectors.
Other artists then came, endeavoring to paint their figurines very finely, often specially ordered by their client. The best known among them are Alexandre, Josiane Desfontaines, Fernande Métayer, better known as “Madame Métayer”, Jacques Bittard, Alexandre Ballada, Bernard Vanot, Roger Berdou, Gaston Auger, Georges Fouillé and Guy Renaud, to whom we owe a very fine collection of flags of France from the Ancien Régime and the First Empire …
Plastic soldiers.
The manufacture of plastic soldiers, (Soldats en matière plastique) and (Kunststoff-Figuren), began at the end of the war of 39-40. In France, we made hard plastic (Hard-Plastic), in England and Spain in flexible plastic, finally in Germany, we used both materials. The flagship brand Starlux dominated the French market until 1980. It edited, among other things, a very fine series on medieval knights, on the western and on the Napoleonic era. Other manufacturers delighted children in the post-war years. In particular Clairet, JIM, Guibert, Segom and MDM. In England, Britains continued the tradition with the plastic series of Swoppets, Herald and Deetail-Models. Timpo Toys offered a very large choice of boxes on sometimes original themes such as the Arabs of the desert or the Eskimos. As for Germany, Elastolin by the quality of engraving and painting, can be considered as the most beautiful post-war manufacture.
Conclusion.
For nearly a century, the toy soldier industry has created millions of figurines, and tens of thousands of jobs across Europe. This industry has now completely disappeared. Children gradually turned away from traditional toys in favor of electronic games and computers. In France, the CBG-Mignot company is the only one that has kept its production tool intact. A few artisans still offer very confidential traditional series in Europe. Today there is a superb semi-artisanal production in Russia. In addition, some American firms, like “King & Country”, now offer quality figurines, from a wide choice of themes, ranging from antiquity to the recent Gulf War. Made in China, these figurines are already very popular today and will emerge, perhaps, as the “old” collection of tomorrow.
François Beaumont