Metal Circus Set

Last month at the April Great Lakes Congress show, Shannon Rodgers gifted me with the NEATEST metal circus set. She'd sent me the horse on the left in February and had then found the rest of the set at the same shop a few weeks later.

I'd posted pictures of it on a metal horse collectors group, but no one had seen it before and could not give me any information about them.

Sam Cory, Liz's husband and metal miniature soldier collector, was at the April GLC show and he was able to give me a little information. While he had not seen these circus pieces, he saw similarities to soldier sets from the 1960s.

Sam told me that metal sets are usually sold unpainted and the buyer then paints them. As he examined the ringmasters, he pointed out that the arm of the one with the whip was articulated to go up and down. 

The right arm of the other ringmaster was also articulated but had been painted over so that it would not move.

See that gold horn or handle? That makes me think that this wasn't just a liberty horse, but it was a bareback rider's mount, too. (Which then makes me wonder if there is a rider for it floating around somewhere.)

This piece is missing a leg and a tail, but I don't care - I love it.

The new white horse is similar to the one Shannon gave me in February.

Someone on the metal horse group had suggested that my first piece was a custom and one of a kind, but I don't think that's true.

Here the two are together - the first is on the left and the newer one on the right.

And their flip sides. (The pieces are still in the same order.)

The black piece made it into my Anything Goes entry at the GLC show. 

Thank you again, Shannon. This circus set is becoming one of my favorites.