"I don't mind looking for HSOs with you," Lisa told me yesterday as we finished up at the craft shop.
My eyebrows rose in surprise at her use of the acronym, "HSO." But if she was game, then I was, too, so we stashed my walker and the craft supplies into the trunk of the car and headed over to a local antique shop.
She grabbed a cart, I grabbed my walker, and off we went.
There were a fair amount of HSOs to be found. And some had some interesting tags on them.
Brown horse?
I agree, it is an unusual real-horse color, but I'm surprised the seller did not call it red instead of brown.
A Barbie horse. My girls had one or two of these when they were little but I don't collect them.
An interesting set of fighting horses. Made by Continental Studies, it is made from a plaster mixture that is often called chalkware by sellers.
I spied that rooster plate and crowed to Lisa, "Metlox Poppytrail!" Wouldn't you know, the gal who can used "HSO" correctly looked confused and had no idea what Metlox Poppytrail meant.
Horses are not the only thing the pottery made and there is a large group of Metlox Poppytrail enthusiasts who collect the plates, cookie jars, and more that were produced. That was a fun find, but I left it behind.
I don't collect metal HSOs for the most part but these were fun to look at.
This is a piece I have only seen once before. Hartland made a set of Roman chariots and horses (which I did not buy when I found the entire set and have regretted ever since.) I am pretty sure it is one of those pieces. I left it behind but I was tempted.
A Betsy Ross decanter with a racehorse stopper.
A Schleich drafter with a nicely braided mane and tail.
A large horse with a haired mane and tail. I am pretty sure this is an American Girl horse - it was huge.
A curio sized Clydesdale that is a copy of Hartland's Clydesdale.
Standing palomino-ish horses in western tack with thick legs are ubiquitous in antique and thrift shops.
A Vintage Andrea by Sadek Collie. I'd never seen anything from this company before but it was nicely done.
And then I spied what I thought were two Mortens Studio dogs. (That yellowed coloring is typical of many of their dogs.)
I picked them up and they were very heavy as Mortens pieces are, and they felt like plaster. Someone had badly covered the bottoms with black felt so I could not check for the Mortens Studio mark or labels.
I did some research at home. This pair was made by Mortens Studio (I was able to do a close up of their labels) and are Staffordshire style.
I haven't found information yet about the dogs that I found that will help identify them as actually being Mortens Studio pieces. I do know that paired dogs, sitting and side by side and facing out was a whimsical, popular style in the early 20th century and possibly the late 19th century, too.
And those pairs almost always have "Staffordshire" or "Staffordshire Mantle Dogs" in their descriptions.
I cannot find my own Mortens Studio reference materials at the moment and I did not find the pair listed in online searches. At $65 each, I am not going to go back and take a risk and buy them.
But I am curious about them. That color, that heft... Maybe not the eyes, but who knows. If any of you know anything about them, I'd love to hear from you.
Finally, speaking of curious and curiouser, that Freeman Leidy pair that the seller told me was sold is still listed on eBay as available.
And I am still interested and still thinking about buying.
