Lady Riders

The Schoenhut Lady Circus Riders The lady circus rider was produced in many designs and variations. The regular size was made with a composition head, carved head, bisque head, and one-part composition head. Blouses are usually medium green but are sometimes found in purple. Skirts are various shades of pink or rose.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed and Gene Metcalf Shown in this photo are the four major styles of the Lady Circus Rider. From the right, the very early composition head style; next to her the early bisque head style with a neck ruff; next to her the bisque head; and finally the late composition head style (this example unusual because she has a hat). The color of the leggings is thought to reflect the color trends of the day. Blue leggings are much rarer than red ones.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile Early composition head The earliest Lady Circus Rider's head was made from a molded composition material. The entire head was made from a material similar to that used for the faces of the two-part head clowns and hobos. These are exceptionally rare. This head is similar to one used on a Schoenhut Rolly Dolly. Keller Style I - Very Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee Early head, small top-knot This Lady Circus Rider's head may have been carved or made from molded composition material. We don't have enough examples to make this determination. Her expression is rather remarkable. The heavy string holding the head to the body is knotted to resemble a top-knot. Keller Style I - Very Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Andy Yaffee
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile Carved head, top-knot The carved head Lady Circus Rider was introduced very early - probably around 1907. It is, however, rare probably because it was labor intensive to make. The costume was made with a green blouse and pink dress trimmed with gold rickrack. The leggings were painted in either red or blue. Below are photos of the heads of three examples of this Lady Circus Rider design. Keller Style I - Very Rare Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Judith Lile	Photo by Judith Lile Bisque head The bisque head style replaced the two-part head, The costume remained the same. Keller Style II- Uncommon Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed The lady rider performs on a GE white horse.
Photos by Judith Lile These three examples of the carved-head Lady Circus Rider with top-knot show how highly variable the shapes of the heads are. This suggests hand shaping. Most early animals show similar variations due to hand shaping. Notice particularly how different the top-knot shapes are. The construction material may be a composition or, possibly, solid wood. The faces may have been hot pressed. It is easy to speculate that due to the high labor costs and skill levels required to make this design, this Lady Circus Rider became the model for the bisque head.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner Bisque heads The bisque head hair always has a top-knot but can be blond, brown, or black. We haven't seen a red-head. Very early bisque Lady Circus Riders wore neck ruffs (see below). Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Susan Turner Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Very early bisque head Lady Circus Rider with blue leggings and a neck ruff. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Image courtesy of Fred Keller This early photo of a Lady Circus Rider with a neck ruff is from a Schoenhut publication. Schoenhut stopped putting neck ruffs on their Lady Riders after a very short production run.	Photo by Judith Lile One-part molded head, top-knot, long neck One-part, composition head Lady Circus Riders were hand painted so facial expression can vary. These heads were made after WWI interrupted the supply from Europe, of the bisque heads. The rickrack was changed to a yellow, all cotton, design. An example has been found with a hat that matches her dress. Photos of this find will be published here soon. Keller Style III - Uncommon Photo by Judith Lile Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed One -part Lady Circus Rider with hat This Lady Circus Rider was found in a Tennessee collection from ca 1920. The hat matches the dress perfectly. This is the first Lady Circus Rider that we have seen with a hat. This is the "discovery" photo. Contact me if you have an example. Keller Style III - Very Rare with hat - one known Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed
Late composition head, top-knot This style is commonly called the one-part head but since all Lady Riders have one-part molded heads that differ only by head material, she is called the late composition head here.	Photo by Jim Sneed Late composition head, no top-knot This example came with her box. These were produced for a short time ca 1929 and are pretty rare today.
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed Reduced size Lady Circus Rider, top-knot This style head is just a smaller version of the regular size lady. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed	Photo by Judith Lile Reduced size Lady Circus Rider, no top-knot This style was likely taken after the flapper-girls that were popular in the 1920s. Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Norman Cole
Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed German Lady Rider Prior to WWI, in response to the popular, even in Europe, Humpty Dumpty circus, several companies made compatible figures. These figures were actually made better than their Schoenhut counterparts. Her shoes are slotted and her hands are the familiar crab-claw design of the Schoenhut circus actors. One example known.	Photo by Jim Sneed from the collection of Jim Sneed German Lady Rider Her head appears to be bisque. It is beautifully painted.
Notice that in a real circus, horses did not wear a platform when carrying lady riders.	A Barnum and Bailey poster from ca 1903 Notice that the horse does not have a platform - riders always perform on bare backs or small saddles.