Circus Time: More Circus Seals

In an earlier post about Shiken circus animals, I shared photos of a trio of seals whose maker was unknown to me. 

Not my set - it's put away, but this photo from Etsy is the same set as mine.

Recently I found another, different set of circus seals that I purchased for my collection.

This new set is chunkier and seems to have even less attention to details paid to it than the other seals. I pulled out my other set and made some comparisons.

The largest seal in the new set has a ball whose stripes stop midway around the ball. 

Its eyes are larger and the body and flippers are thicker.

The newest seal's ball has what appeared to be red stripes in online pictures, but when I got it, that red is something that's been added after the piece was made, and it is flaking off. You can feel it as it is raised, almost like a thin strip of rubber that's been glued on and is decaying with age.

The second new seal has the same thick features and the red rubbery whatever affixed to it, too.

Its rubber, too is flaking off. The facial details are not bad,

but they appear to be less refined than the middle seal of the other trio. (Look at the colors on the other seal's circus ball. So pretty!)

I had to laugh - just like the Shiken seal and the littlest seal in the other group, there is no nose on the smallest seal as it balances the ball. 

It is quite a bit smaller than the other, too, but it still looks heavy and unrefined. And, like the others in the trio, its ball has red flakes of what were stripes still sticking to the china. Has that substance has stained the china? Or were there once pink or red stripes that faded?

The new seal set may be chunky, unrefined, and flaking, but I'm happy to have added them to my collection.

Next in the series? I just got a new Freeman Leidy circus pony!

Prepare to be amazed!