Lion Tamers
by Judith Lile and Jim Sneed
The Schoenhut Lion Tamers |
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| The lion tamer was the last of the main circus characters Schoenhut introduced - probably around 1906. This performer followed a progression of a two-part molded head, then a bisque head, and finally a one-part molded head. This may be the hardest performer to find except for the band members. | |
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Two-part head The two-part head lion tamer was made with un-jointed arms, a dark blue coat with gold appliqué, a red fez with gold appliqué, black boats, and white shirt and pants. His head was made similar to those of the Teddy Roosevelt personnel and the band. They are found both with, and without a goatee. The white shirt and pants were one piece. The hat is shorter than later styles. Keller Style I - Very Rare
This early two-part head lion tamer sports an unusual hat that has a gold braid rim.
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Bisque head, goatee, gold appliqué The early bisque head lion tamer was made with straight arms, a blue coat with gold appliqué, a red felt fez with a string tassel and gold appliqué, a white shirt, white bow tie, black boots, and white pants. Later, jointed arms were added. This example came from a collection bought in about 1910. Keller Style II - Rare
The two-part-head Lion Tamer on the left was made ca 1908 and the bisque head Lion Tamer on the right was made ca 1910. Notice that the suits are virtually the same.
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Bisque head, felt braiding At some point, the gold appliqué was abandoned in favor of cut yellow felt on both the hat and the coat. This example's head does not have a goatee. Possibly an acrobat's head was used because they ran out of lion tamer heads. Notice that the arms are jointed at the elbow.
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One-part head Finally, the bisque head was replaced with the one-part head. This probably occurred in about 1918 or shortly thereafter when the supply of bisque heads from Europe dried up during WWI. Keller Style III - Scarce
Catalog illustration The lion tamer is illustrated in the Copyright 1928 catalog.
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 Photo by Keith Kaonis from the collection of Donna and Keith Kaonis The Point-of-Display Lion Tamer Factory made, likely to serve as a point-of-sale display piece to attract customers, this figure was based on the Manikin doll but his hand was custom carved to hold a whip. About 21 inches tall, ca 1914-1918.
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