Donkeys

The Donkeys The donkey was introduced with the very earliest Humpty Dumpty circus pieces. It may be the most commonly found piece for the circus. There are a great many varieties of head and paint design. Some are found with blankets. All, except the miniature donkey, have open mouths.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Glass eyes, dark brown body This example is painted uniformly dark brown. Its face is carved around the nose and eye areas. The mouth is cut open and painted in red with white teeth. The ears are leather and the tail painted twine. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner Glass eyes, dark brown body, light brown nose, blanket This example's body is painted brown with a grayish-brown nose. The blanket is red felt with gold rickrack.	Photo by Jim Sneed Head painting Donkeys are found with many body paint variations. These two early glass eyed donkeys show the same body design but, on the left, the nose is grayish brown that blends to a medium brown. On the right, the head and body are painted dark brown and a black patch has been added down the forehead to the nose. Below is a glass eyes donkey painted medium brown with a lighter brush-painted brown nose.
Photo by Jim Sneed Painted eyes, gray nose This example features a carved nose. Its nose is gray and its body dark brown. Tooling marks are evident around the head. The nose was hand shaped. Photo by Jim Sneed Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Norman Cole	Photo by Judith Lile Painted eyes, molded head, gray nose, blanket On this example, the head appears to have been molded, then painted. His nose is gray, his body brown. The blanket is red felt with yellow rickrack. Photo by Judith Lile	(Need regular DE donkey photo)
(Need reduced PE donkey photo)	Reduced size, decal eyes The red-orange iris of the decal eyes are easy to see.	Photo by Jim Sneed Miniature Donkey The miniature donkey was made in 1927 in sets along with the miniature clown and elephant. Notice the simple detail of the mouth compared to the other donkeys. This, the smallest donkey, is the rarest and most valuable.
	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile The Horse Donkey This donkey's head was fitted with a leather mane, and small leather ears. The ears are not nailed to the head like other donkeys, but inserted in holes. Also, his glass eyes are unusual for the Schoenhut Circus - they are "cat eyes". We may never know the story behind this animal. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee Display Donkey Shown here is the head of the point-of-sale store display donkey. This is the largest Humpty Dumpty donkey that Schoenhut made.