Circus Time: Metlox Drafters

Clinky Mayhem, a sale of the late Karen Grimm's chinas, was held in the spring of 2018 out in California. People flew in from all over the country for the opportunity to buy some of the fabulous pieces in Karen's collection.

I couldn't go, but my friend, Teresa Rogers could, and she offered to get me a few things that I was looking for. I was looking for the medium sized Metlox Poppytrail Circus Horse in white that I knew was in Karen's collection, so I passed that information on to Teresa and sat back to wait.

That piece was not available, but the large Metlox circus horses were! (Metlox/Metlox Poppytrail was a California pottery company that was in production from 1927 - 1989.) Part of the Metlox Nostalgia line, there were three palomino and one grey circus drafters available, and Teresa was able to snag three of those for me.

 

One of the palominos had a very hard to see repaired break on its leg, and its price reflected that.

The grey drafter is harder to find and I felt very lucky that Teresa was able to get it for me. It was in mint condition.

Look at that neck! I just love this sculpt in all it chunkiness.

The third drafter was also mint. It differs from the first one in that it has some shading on the ends of its mane. 

All three pieces have some crazing which is common in pieces this old.

And they all have this fun braided forelock. Plus they are HEAVY. As heavy as they are, I think they must be solid.

If you are very, very lucky, you might find one of these drafters with a circus ballerina sitting on their backs. I've had some great finds, but this piece has eluded me. I bid on one once on eBay, but the bidding went far higher than I wanted to spend. Still, I hope to come across one someday.

A history of the Metlox/Metlox Poppytrail Company can be found here. And tomorrow we will look at something a little smaller than these big boys.

Prepare to be amazed!