Burnished Gold: the Grazing Mare & Foal

The Grazing Mare and Grazing Foal are two vintage molds that I count as favorites.

(This grazing mare and foal are favorites, too!)

I have one of each in the burnished gold color and the foal is especially stunning.

It stands out among the three that I have in that color. (For the record, burnished gold is simply a term I use to refer to this unusual carmel coloring you occasionally find.)

It's not a pearly, although photos like this one sometimes make me pull it out for another look.

There is a depth to the foal's color that the semi-gloss really accentuates.

The inner ears and the muzzle are heavily pinked. Breyer's red/pink is known to fade in sunlight, but this foal has been kept away from the sun over the years.

Mama has lovely coloring, too, although her mane and tail are now a creamy color. 

She is matte, too. (Sorry for the poor quality pictures of her - I thought I'd taken some when the light was good but discovered the I had not. 5:00 AM photos just aren't the best.)

The Western Prancer and two Grazing models are the only models I have in this unusual color variation. But as I was pulling pieces out for this series, I noticed several things about Breyer's early carmel palomino color as well as an interesting connection to another piece Breyer made during that time. I'm still doing some research, but I will post some photos (taken when the light is better) and some thoughts soon.

Stay 'tooned!

Burnished Gold - that Odd Palomino Color

Palomino was one of Breyer's longest used colors on several of its early molds - the Fighting Stallion, Grazing Mare, 5 Gaiter, and Family Arabs just to name a few. The color can range from a lovely carmel to a light yellow with lots of shades in between. 

But there is a "gold" variation that is my favorite and I found a Western Prancer in that color recently.

Isn't this piece beautiful? Look at that pink muzzle and the gorgeous shading.

Its reins and saddle may be missing, but there was no way I was leaving this model behind.

I have always called this color "gold" or "burnished gold," but this is not a gold charm decorator - the color is not metallic.

This piece is a very early Western Prancer, too. It has the early Breyer round stamp

and the two black dots that Breyer used to put on their stallion models. See that drainboard pattern on the hooves?)

I have a Grazing Mare in burnished gold who may/may not also be a semi-gloss. 

And, I have the Grazing Foal in the same color. Isn't he pretty?

I thought it would be fun to delve more into the early palominos and do some comparisons across the shades. They really are lovely and the variations are fascinating. I'll try to to get some photos of other early palominos in my collection and show you what I mean.

Stay 'tooned!

Hand Painted Mane!

When I pulled out my bay Grazing Mare to photograph for yesterday's post, I noticed something that I had not seen before. Sharp-eyed blog reader Adah R. saw the same thing.

In the blog comments, Adah asked, "Is that a hand painted mane on the grazing mare?"

It sure is! This model was part of my sister Leslie's carpet herd and she gave it to me when she stopped collecting. I only pull it out when I dust, and I'd never really taken a close look at it. (I have given it a kiss on the nose, though. All carpet herd pieces get that!)

Hand painted manes were done on the earliest iterations of certain molds.

My buckskin Indian Pony has them. (Go here to read a blog article about her hand painted mane.)

Both my red eyed and black eyed versions 

of the Semi-Rearing Mustang have them as well.

More hand painted mane tendrils on the Grazing Mare's near side mane.

This piece was first produced in in in 1965 and my model is an early one with no USA stamp.

Finding that the Grazing mare had hand painted mane tendrils had me going through my collection and looking at models that have been in my collection forever and not gotten a close examination in years.

I was surprised at what I found.

Stay 'tooned!

A Pony Pal Visits

Our daughter, Jessica, and her husband and children are moving from Virginia to Utah, and as they drive across country with their things, they stopped by Monday for a quick visit and to spend the night.

The local grands came over to see them, and we had a pizza dinner and then popcornpalooza and watched a movie. (Popcornpalooza is popcorn mixed with M&Ms, gummi bears, pretzels, goldfish crackers, and anything else you want to toss into the mix. It is HUGELY popular in our family.)

Pony Pal Cambria requested a tour of my collection and I let her select a ribbon that I'd won at Silver Star Classic. She promptly hung it on her shirt.

I'd also made the kids care packages with things like fun pads, snacks, and small toys to keep them entertained as the family drove across the country. If you look at the bag, you can see that my pony pal is also taking home a palomino Grazing Mare. (Her brother, Titan, got the matching foal.)

Cambria really does seem to have the horsey gene. Time will tell, but her Grammy has her fingers crossed!