Collections Within My Collection: Mortens Studio Dogs & Cats

I don't collect dogs but I have been know to purchase them during my outings to look for HSOs.  That's how I ended up bringing some of these pretty Mortens Studio pieces home.

This Mortens Studio Collie was my first Mortens dog. Like most Mortens, he has a little damage to an ear, the tip of his nose, and a little scuffing on his paws.

But when you consider his age and the material of which he's made, he is in terrific shape, especially for a Mortens Studio piece. 

I am also lucky to have found this wonderful old Dalmatian.  He looks to me like he is yearning for someone to pet him.

Mortens came with stickers or an ink stamp on the bottom like this one to identify them. 

His spots have been applied by hand and are quite randomly shaped and placed. He even has spots under his belly, too.

It is highly unusual to find a Mortens Studio piece as undamaged as this one is. He's a little dirty, but I don't dare wash him since I would be afraid that the water might destroy some of the plaster. I can live with the dirt.

 Our first dog as a family was a beautiful Springer Spaniel named Duffy. 

Duffy was a wonderful boy and we had him fifteen years. 

So, is it any wonder that when a hobbyist offered a bunch of Mortens Studio dogs in excellent condition that I quickly snagged the Springer Spaniel?

I have about 15 Mortens horses, dogs, and cats and none of them are in as good of shape as this one.

 I can't find a flaw on him.

Whoever owned that small collection of Mortens dogs clearly took good care of them and I wish I could tell them that this particular piece is in good hands and will be well cared for.

In 2019, a surprise box arrived from friend and fellow collector Nancy Kelly. Inside? 

Three Mortens Studio puppies!

 

Mortens made a variety of sizes, and this is the large Sitting Boxer puppy.

 

 

He's in remarkable shape for a Mortens Studio.

 

The large Irish Setter puppy was also in the box.

 

Like the Boxer, he, too, is in excellent shape. (I love his sweet little eyes!)

The large Collie pup has had a bit of a rough life, but he will find a happy home with my adult Collie.

 

He's painted in my favorite Mortens' color - butterscotch and cream.

His underside is unpainted plaster with the Mortens Studio stamp on top.

The underside of the Irish Setter has been painted like the hoof bottoms of my Mortens Studio horses. The paint is very thick.

The Boxer's underside is curious - was the paint added after the stamp? Or was the stamp added after the paint and faded over time? It's hard to tell, but I think its the latter. See those two places where the brown paint has chipped off, exposing the base? The stamp has chipped off in those areas, too. If it were on the base and then painted over, you should still see the stamp under the chips.

(Nancy, I still enjoy having these puppies in my collection!)

From another source (and one that I cannot remember)

is this playful Mortens Studio Boxer pup.

That hole in the base gives an unusual look inside the piece.

I spied this small cat sitting on a shelf in a corner of an antique shop. Actually, it was the COLOR of the cat that caught my attention - the same butterscotch and cream as my Mortens Studio Collie.

Never had I seen a Mortens Studio cat before.

Further research showed that there are a few Mortens Studio cats, but certainly not as many as there are dogs and horses.

 

With very minimal damage to her ears and for only fifty cents, she came home with me.

As I compare the dogs and cat to the horses and look at their damage, I wonder why no metal armature shows where the plaster has come off.

The Collie pup is a great example of that - the ears are damaged and half a leg is gone, but there is no metal in sight.

My theory is that maybe only the horses have the metal inside - their legs and ears are thinner and more fragile than the thicker dogs' and cats'. 

A close-up of the metal ears on my Mortens Hackney.

And, the horses are heavier than the dogs or cat, lending credence to the fact that there is a metal armature inside them.

I may have a theory but there is no way to test it unless I find a Mortens dog or cat in such poor shape that I wouldn't mind breaking it open and looking inside. 

If any of you have any thoughts or information about whether or not the Mortens dogs and cats have metal inside them, I'd love to hear from you.(horsiemama8@gmail.com)

Tomorrow we will look at another collection within my collection. Stay 'tooned!