Donkeys

The Schoenhut 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. Donkeys were introduced in 1903 with the elephant as the first animals Schoenhut produced.
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. Keller Style I - Uncommon 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 rickrackKeller Style I - Very Scarce.
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. Keller Style III - Common 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. Very Scarce Photo by Judith Lile	Photo courtesy of Har Simons, the Netherlands Decal eyes The decal eyes donkey was likely the last produced. Decals were used to reduce costs.
Photo courtesy of Har Simons, the Netherlands Reduced size, painted eyes Hand painted eyes are usually irregular.	Reduced size, decal eyes The red-orange iris of the decal eyes are easy to see. Both eyes will be identical if applied decals.
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 Euro 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 like horse's ears. Also, his glass eyes are unusual for the Schoenhut Circus - they are "cat eyes". His legs are not shaped like donkey legs but much more like horse legs. His body paint is a greenish-gray much like elephants. We have found another example of this animal. See photos below. 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. It is about 40 cm (15.7 inches) from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail. Photo by Jim Sneed The display donkey dwarfs a regular size donkey.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed The Horse-Donkey with a Regular Donkey Note the differences in the body color, legs shape, ears, mane, and eyes. The Horse-Donkey also weights about 1 oz more that the regular donkey suggesting that a denser wood was used in construction. We can't see any evidence of over-painting. If you have a piece similar to this one, please contact me. We have found a second example. See below.
A Euro Second Horse-Donkey courtesy of Har Simons

In this second example, the body color is the same greenish-gray, the legs are horse-like, the head has holes for its ears, and the nose has almost no flair. The eyes, mane and ears are, unfortunately, replacements. Both this example and the one above were found in the Netherlands which may suggest a European maker - either from an A. Schoenhut licensed or owned company, or a knock-off maker. Most ca 1920s wood toys in Europe were made in Germany. We are looking for evidence to support one of these possibilities.
Photo courtesy of Har Simons, the Netherlands A Donkey Family Portrait This photograph, from the collection of Har Simons, shows from the left, a GE donkey, a horse-donkey, a decaled eye donkey, and a reduced painted eye donkey.