A Box from South Africa

 A very large box from South Africa arrived this week - one I had been excitedly waiting for.

I'd celebrated a big birthday in August and inside were gifts I'd bought myself for the occasion.

Chevals from Nguni Cheval Ceramics by Johnny de Beer! 

I've ordered several times directly from Johnny, and the pieces are always well packed for their journey across the world.

I'd ordered the warmblood stallion in Appaloosa

 

and it did not disappoint.

It even has halo spots

 and a lovely braided mane.

There was a surprise, though.

The piece was huge and dwarfed my traditional-sized Breyer Cryptic.

The other box was just as big - was the second piece I'd ordered big, too?

It was, but it was also just as lovely as the first.

This piece is the racehorse in grey, and I received the darker grey variation.

Both pieces are signed by Johnny and were produced just this year.

The size may have been a surprise but I am still thrilled with both pieces.

They are safely lying on a towel-covered tub in my bedroom until I do a little rearranging in my china cabinet. And, I want to pull out my Friesians and do a size comparison, too.

Stay 'tooned for that!

Good Advice Pays Off

Years ago, a hobby friend gave me some advice about scouring antique shops and thrift stores for pieces to add to my collection. She told me to always be sure to look on the bottom shelves. The middle shelves are where most people look; few look up or down.  When I did as she suggested recently, this is what I found.

Not one, but two bisque warmbloods!

They are by Goebel and were made in 1969. No chips, no breaks, and languishing on a bottom shelf among an assortment of old tools and junk. 

At only $20 each, I brought them home. I didn't plan to keep them; I just wanted to get them into the hands of collectors who would appreciate them. So, I posted their photos to a couple of online china groups on Facebook and offered them at cost plus shipping. They were sold in just a few of hours.

One is now in Kentucky with a long time hobby friend and the other went to a collector in North Carolina. I am especially glad that my friend got one of them. She had saved her babysitting money as a girl to buy this piece, and then in the late 1970s, someone broke into her storage unit and stole it. She was thrilled to have it again in her collection.

Looking down low at those bottom shelves was good advice!