Why is This Model Horse Smiling?

This Mortens Studio Pinto was owned, for much of its life, by an Illinois horse lover whose first initial was F.  She collected model horses for much of her life. Many of the horses F. owned pre-date what we consider the "organized" model horse hobby, which began to take shape in the late 1960s. 

This fellow dates to at least the mid-1940s, if not earlier.

When F. passed away about 40 years ago, the Pinto and her other model horses went to her family, and over the weekend they were kind enough to sell me her collection.

The Pinto looks happy. And he should be, because a) he was loved; and b) he's a survivor. It is difficult to find a Mortens Studio animal, with its heavy metal frame under a ceramic and plaster body that has been painted and glazed, in such great condition. In short -- the finish cracks and chips very easily. 

Mortens Studio horses are not in great demand by 21st century collectors, but they do have their fans, who are charmed by their personalities and their history.

F. put tiny stickers on many of her horse figurines, and wrote down who had given them to her. She noted that horse was given to her by one of her children, and that it was "one of my favorites." This horse was dearly loved and cherished, and now he seems happy to be here.

We see the Mortens Studio Pinto horse in Sears Christmas ads in the Upper Midwest and the South, dating from 1945. World War II was over, the soldiers were home or nearly home, and it was time to decorate the house with something meaningful. The Pinto and another horse are identified as "Western Style" and "English Style," perhaps referring to the colors.

You can see that his spot pattern is similar to the horse in the ad. Variations are common in hand-painted figurines.

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A bit of background on Mortens Studio:

It's common to see such horse figurines referred to as being by "Morten Studio" or "Morten's Studio," but the correct spelling of their creator's last name is Mortens, with an S at the end.

Oscar Wilhelm Mortenson (1878-1962) only created animal figurines for a few decades, and not much is known about his company. Born in Skahult, Sweden, Mortens studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and the Berlin Academy of Art. He came to the US in 1923.

Source: US Federal Naturalization Records, via Ancestry.com

We see him living in Illinois and taking part in art exhibitions in the early 1930s, and applying for US citizenship in 1935. He had his name legally changed to Oscar Mortens in 1940. Newspaper articles call him a "well-known Chicago sculptor."

DeKalb, IL Daily Chronicle, 1 December 1932

Some accounts say that Mortens started his ceramics business in 1931. The first newspaper ads I see for Mortens Studio horses are from 1943. By the mid-1950s, Mortens was selling not only horse figurines but also horse head plaques. They were marketed as ornaments and paperweights. Like other horse figurines of that era, the prospective buyer was seen as a man, rather than a woman or child. These Mortens Studio horse plaques were "for Dad's den or office." 

Many hobbyists believe that most Mortens Studio dogs, cats, and livestock are more realistic than the company's horse figurines.

Mortens Studio English Setter puppies.
Each bears a sticker that says, "I am an English Setter."

Mortens Studio Persian cat.

Decatur, IL Herald and Review,
11 December 1955

Mortens Studio cow, as seen at an antique mall.

In 1942, Oscar Mortens and his wife, psychiatrist Dr. Selma Colbe Mortens, bought property near Santa Cruz, California. In 1947, the couple moved to Phoenix, Arizona for his health. The 19 October 1952 Arizona Republic ran the following article on them. Mortens told the Republic that he wanted to mass-produce ceramics because commissions for sculptures were few and far between. Mortens started out creating plaques of famous Hollywood celebrities, but the only one that sold well was of humorist Will Rogers; the University of Oklahoma bought them for its students.

Mortens said, "Then I tried animals, horses first, then dogs and other animals. They caught on immediately. Now we have a factory in Chicago, and I spend a great deal of time back there." 

Oscar Mortens died in Phoenix in September 1962, and is buried in Chicago.

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Here's a link summarizing Mortens' career, with photos of some of his work: 

https://www.oscarmortens.com/

Ferseyn, *Raseyn, and "Racine"

Certain images in this post are provided under the Fair Use provision in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act. "Fair Use" specifically allows for the use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes only.

This is a crossover post, because it touches on California's equine history as well as model horse figurine history.

Breyer Model Horses recently issued a set of three color variations on its "Classic Arabian Stallion" mold, for members of its Collectors Club. 

"Zayn," a 2024 Breyer Collectors Club offering. 
https://www.breyerhorses.com/search?q=zayn*

The folks at Breyer are to be commended for mentioning that the mold was originally designed by artist Maureen Love (1922-2004).

Hagen-Renaker "Ferseyn"

A plastic Breyer "Classic Arabian Stallion"
and the ceramic Hagen-Renaker "Ferseyn." 

The Arabian stallion Ferseyn

Inspired by the real Arabian stallion Ferseyn (*Raseyn x *Ferda), Maureen created the design for the California pottery Hagen-Renaker, Inc. which released him in ceramic starting in 1958. Breyer first issued the mold in plastic, as the Classic Arabian Stallion, in 1973.

Breyer is calling this 2024 release of the design "Zayn," apparently a takeoff on the name "Ferseyn." And that's a lovely name for him. (As I write, model horse hobbyists are discussing the release of "Zayn" with great excitement.)

Obviously pronunciations can differ depending on the speaker, but I believe that, back in his day, "Ferseyn" was pronounced more like Fer-SEEN than Fer-SANE, to rhyme with "rain." I've also heard it pronounced somewhere in between "seen" and "sane."

Ferseyn's name was a combination of his dam's name, *Ferda, and his sire, *Raseyn.

Ferseyn as a colt, in the Fresno Bee newspaper. *Ferda had been sold
to rancher Fred Vanderhoof when she was carrying Ferseyn.

A young Ferseyn, in Western Livestock Journal

The older Ferseyn, also in Western Livestock Journal,
when he was owned by Herbert H. Reese 

It makes sense that Ferseyn would rhyme with *Raseyn. And we know how people in the 1920s-1940s pronounced *Raseyn -- with a long E at the end. 

*RASEYN at the Kellogg Ranch, 1926

W. K. Kellogg bought *Raseyn from the Crabbet Stud in England in 1926, adding the stallion to his herd in Pomona, California. (*Raseyn has an asterisk * before his name, to indicate he was imported to the US from another country and registered with the Arabian Horse breed registry in this country.)

Sculptor Annette St. Gaudens pronounced *Raseyn's name in this old newsreel clip, at about 37 seconds in to the film, which is only about a minute and a half long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyZhqxVdSnI

Ms. St. Gaudens had homes in Claremont, California and in New Hampshire. Newspaper accounts said the sculptor had planned to take it back to New Hampshire with her, cast it in bronze there, and exhibit it in New York. 

The Kellogg House on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona now has her sculpture of *Raseyn, closed away in a cabinet with trophies won by some of  the Arabians and Percherons of the Kellogg Ranch. They took little *Raseyn out for his photo shoot during the 75th anniversary of the Kellogg Arabian Horse Ranch; his picture appears in Mary Jane Parkinson's The Romance of the Kellogg Ranch.

We also hear *Raseyn's name pronounced about six seconds into this 1932 newsreel outtake, then again at about 4:19. (Be sure to come back here to finish the story, after you get lost in this film.)

https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/MVTN/id/5355/rec/13?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1JTFDxQQrJLjzlZaig8UbnLNLTx2sB7fPxVa48WF2P19m8R8TTaBpnXAI_aem_AaZqQAPcwKLR-dh7PRebZPicO8Aj6uZjgF2X51tBADfykOfvZ_cr-8hJoV9FEuJerFynwJ_ozzP6P7icw8we04jT

The beauty of this video is that we can see *Raseyn in action, almost throughout. At about 8:03 we see *Raseyn and Antez at a trot and canter under saddle. 

*Raseyn was a favorite subject for several artists. Here he poses with his friend Miss Gladys Brown (Edwards) in 1934. 

Wesley Dennis tried his hand at drawing *Raseyn for Esquire magazine in the 1930s. Since he apparently lived in Massachusetts and Virginia, Dennis may have been using a photograph as reference, rather than having visited the Kellogg Ranch himself.

Sculptor Lawrence Tenney Stevens (1896-1972) also captured *Raseyn, this time in an Art Deco style. There's one small copy in the Kellogg House on the Cal Poly Pomona campus, and another one in the collection of the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, also on the Cal Poly Pomona campus.  

WKKAHL notes that Stevens created the portrait in 1934.

Why do I think it was *Raseyn who posed for sculptor Stevens?  Because of two articles that ran in the Palm Springs, California Desert Sun during World War II.A local insurance broker and realtor, Herbert Samson, had been given a copy of the equine head study by Stevens, who had lived in the area.  Samson boxed up the artwork to send it to Stevens and stored it in the trunk of his car. Then thieves stole the box. 

The November 10, 1944 issue of the Sun did not name the Kellogg Arabian...

But a later issue of the Sun, did name the horse. The paper repeated Stevens' appeal for the return of the horse sculpture on December 1, 1944, and this time the reporter identified the subject of the art.  

Interestingly, though not surprisingly, the newspaper didn't spell *Raseyn's name correctly. They spelled it like the city in Wisconsin: "Racine."

"It all started some years ago when Stevens was a resident here and a close friend of Herbert Samson, modelled Racine, famous Arabian stallion at the Kellogg ranch near Pomona." (emphasis mine)

I have never been able to find out whether that stolen copy was recovered. 

I don't think *Raseyn, or Ferseyn, would have cared if we pronounced their names to rhyme with "SEEN" or "SANE" or somewhere in between. The important thing is that we appreciate and cherish their memories, and their huge impact on Arabian horses in the 20th century.  

And now thanks to the Breyer Zayn, their legacy continues!

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Here's my blog post on Ferseyn:

https://californiahorsehistory.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-little-gray-arabian-stallion-at-home.html

Breyer Model Horses:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/

*Raseyn's history is documented in Lonnie Hitchens' video on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9zHD5lKlK4

Here's a short clip of Ferseyn as an older horse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0rc5RmhTXM

Artist Lawrence Tenney Stevens was profiled by Phoenix magazine in 2022:

https://www.phoenixmag.com/2022/01/06/cowboy-down-the-tangled-arizona-legacy-of-lawrence-tenney-stevens/

Horse Figurines in the Making: An old film of Fannie Branson creating her "miniature horses"

Artist Fannie Branson with one of her equine creations in 1946

In 2023, I wrote a blog post on equine artist/crafter Fannie Branson (1881-1965) of Agate Beach, Oregon. 

Here's a short documentary film showing her at work! (Thanks to Linda Shaw for sharing the link with me.)

https://vimeopro.com/oddballfilms/unusualoccupations/video/89056176

And here's a link to my original blog post on the artist:

https://modelhorsehistory.blogspot.com/2023/03/the-handcrafted-horses-of-oregons.html

Flocked Model Horses, Harnesses, and Vehicles by Charles B. Cottrell

Breyer Belgian with flocking and harness by Charles B. Cottrell.
Photo courtesy of the horse's proud owner, Jen Boss.

Breyer model horse collectors affectionately call them "flockies" -- the model horses and other animals covered with soft fuzzy flocking.  Kirsten Wellman's excellent blog Model Horse Collectibility summarizes the history of flocked Breyers. She notes:  

If a flocked model appeared as a regular run in a Breyer catalog, as a special run in the Sears, J. C. Penneys, or Montgomery Wards holiday catalogs, or as a BreyerFest special run, it is considered original finish. If it did not, it's aftermarket or custom. 

The distinguishing factor is the intent behind the model's creation -- the catalog issue models were specially ordered by Breyer and retailers in a collaboration with an Indiana company called Riegseckers. 

All other flockie models were produced independently -- with no orders or input from Breyer -- by a variety of family business and hobby customizers including Riegseckers, Eighmeys, the Diercks and Algyre family, and many others. 

One of the other independent makers was an Iowa man named Charles B. Cottrell. An example of his handiwork recently came to live with hobbyist Jen Boss, who kindly allowed me to use photos of her new pride and joy. 

Cottrell's initials are embossed into the harness:

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa Gazette newspaper ran a feature story on Charles B. Cottrell and his family, showcasing their harnessed animals and vehicles. The story noted that Cottrell, a "veteran All-Iowa Fair livestock superintendent," started his hobby in 1974. The article doesn't mention Breyer models by name, calling them "small plastic animals" that "are purchased and then flocked. But the tiny pieces of farm equipment are cut from wood, assembled, and painted, all by hand."

A close inspection of one of the photos accompanying the article shows that Cottrell didn't just flock Breyer horses....

...because that's a walking Hartland walking Quarter Horse mare in the harness with the Amish buggy!

In June 1977, the Gazette reported, Cottrell entered his flocked animals and wagons in the hobby division of the All-Iowa Fair, "which earned him exceptional exhibit honors."

Today, the flocked model horses of Charles B. Cottrell are among the sought-after stars on the shelves of collectors.

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Here's the link to Kirsten Wellman's full blog post about flockies:

https://modelhorsecollectibility.blogspot.com/search/label/breyer%20flockies

Meg McDonald wrote about flockies for the Breyer website:

https://www.breyerhorses.com/blogs/collecting/a-history-of-breyer-flockies

There's a private Facebook group for collectors of Breyer flockies and vehicles, the Breyer Flockie and Wagon Collector's Showcase: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/204555127642499

Here's my earlier blog post on the flocked model horses of Diercks & Algyre:

https://modelhorsehistory.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-flocked-breyer-model-horses-of.html

Note: The "market value" of any model horse is always dependent on condition, rarity, and who's shopping for it, among other things. A general starting place to find comparative values is to look at eBay "sold" auctions for the same or similar piece, then consult other model horse hobbyists for additional context.

The Many Model Horse Photos of Hobbyist Ellen Hitchins

Two of Ellen Hitchins' Breyer Old Mold Proud Arabian Mares,
India and Sincerity.

Ellen Hitchins (1951-1996) was one of the "founding mothers" of the model horse hobby. She called her model horse stables "B&B Tack & Stables."

Ellen attended Cal Poly Pomona and pursued a career working with horses. Author Nancy Kelly, whose book Exploring the Model Horse Hobby is such a treasure, shared with me this photo of Ellen taken at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center at Cal Poly.

Nancy's book, and the many Facebook groups on vintage model horses and their history, are great sources of information about how the organized model horse hobby started in the late 1960s.

Ellen's friend (and mine) Laurie Jo Jensen loaned me a small box full of some of Ellen's model horse show photos from the 1960s and 1970s. Looking at them is truly a trip down memory lane. 

By looking at the horses in Ellen's collection, we can:

-- Observe the state of the early organized model horse hobby from the perspective of someone who took it seriously

-- See names of some of the other early hobbyists

-- Imagine the impact of seeing ceramic Hagen-Renaker and Beswick horses in show photos for the first time, if you'd only known about Breyer and Hartland horses before

-- See examples of early flocked repainted model horses

-- See how model horse show photography changed and improved, once a hobbyist started using a 35mm camera. Below we see Ellen's Breyer Family Arabian Foals Seven Eleven (left)and Chewy (right), in October 1967. This print looks like it could have been taken with a point-and-shoot Kodak Brownie or similar camera.

This is Ellen's Old Mold Proud Arabian Mare Seraphim, March 1970. She was probably photographed with a 35mm single-lens reflex camera.

I don't have time or space to show all the photos from Ellen's estate, but these will provide an overview of the diversity of her collection. 

So, in no particular order of importance, here are some of the highlights from Ellen Hitchins' photo show string.

VIRGINIA ORISON HORSES

Ellen owned horses we all would have coveted. This is an Arabian stallion hand-crafted by Virginia Orison. Most young model horse collectors couldn't afford these, but we sighed over the photos in Orison's ads in Western Horseman and other magazines in the 1960s-70s. Ellen called him Alla Habu.

 

The photo below, of a Thoroughbred called Warlock, has the name and address of Lourie Ellen Reid of New Jersey hand-written on the back. He's also a Virginia Orison creation, currently owned by Laurie Jo Jensen.

On the back of this photo is written "Domino, QH Stallion, Dark brown, black points." I believe he too is a Virginia Orison creation, although it's possible the negative was reversed when the print was made.

SHIRMAR

Three of Ellen's photos appear to be of Shirmar copies of the large Hagen-Renaker Arabian family: Zara, Amir, and Zilla. It's rare to see photos of them as unfinished pieces. 

Shirmar Ceramics was located in Pomona, California, where Ellen attended college. I see classified ads for them in the archives of the Pomona Progress-Bulletin newspaper from 1969 to 1974. Many contemporary hobby experts believe these were not authorized copies, but I wanted to show them for hobby history's sake. Shirmars still show up occasionally in collections and at model horse events.

ORIGINALS BY COWIE

Some of Ellen's photos are of model horse designs I'd never heard of.

Ellen called this Palomino Quarter Horse mare Margarita De Oro, and the back of her photo is marked "Original by Cowie." "Cowie" was Linda Cowie of Missouri.

This is another "Original by Cowie" -- an Arabian stallion Ellen called Sultaniman Abduraqueman, or "Abdu" for short. 

Another Cowie creation was Allah Serneyn. He looks magnificent in this photo. 

HAGEN-RENAKERS

Imagine what it would have been like, if you'd been a youth in the early 1970s, and you'd never even heard of Hagen-Renaker horses...and you saw this photo of Ellen's Hagen-Renaker "Sheba," Serabi.

Ellen also showed other Hagen-Renaker horses. This is her "Roan Lady" Tennessee Walking Horse mare Stately Again, elegant in black and white. 

And this Hagen-Renaker small "Honora"  is Stately Brantley Boy, an American Saddlebred stallion.

Ellen photo-showed this Hagen-Renaker "Kelso" as Peg O' My Heart, a Quarter Horse mare. She wasn't the only model horse hobbyist who thought the Kelso mold made a good mare.

To save money on film processing, and if the photo show holder allowed it, collectors would sometimes photograph two models at a time. These are the Hagen-Renaker Morgan foals "Roughneck" and "Scamper," shown as Assam and Antigone, Arabian foals.

This Hagen-Renaker small "Zilla" foal was Touch of Amber, shown as a colt.

This mini Hagen-Renaker head-up Appaloosa could compete against larger horses in the early 1970s, although without a good closeup lens it was challenging to get a good picture of him. At this point, Ellen did have a pretty good camera.

MODEL HORSE RECORD-KEEPING

Ellen kept track of some of the shows her horses entered. This pre-printed cardstock record shows the name of the show, the "executive" (show holder), and the date. The people holding the shows included Simone Smiljanic, Karen Pate, Marney Walerius, Ginny Venator, Kathy Maestas, and others. 

VINTAGE CUSTOM HAGEN-RENAKERS

Given the dates of the photos, which are all 1973 or earlier, I believe this is a vintage custom Hagen-Renaker "Man O' War," rather than the 1975 Breyer plastic version. The name on the back of his photo is Diamond Jubilee. 

This appears to be the same horse, minus the "hair" mane and tail. I wonder which came first, and whether he was an early one of the famous "Diamond" horses of Kathy Maestas?

This Hagen-Renaker small "Zilla" foal was repainted chestnut. Ellen showed her as Mi Nefous.

REVELL KIT HORSE

Another Appaloosa in Ellen's show string was Cayenne Cochise, a Revell Appaloosa "kit" horse. (Other hobbyists have told me that the Revell Appaloosa came in brown and black.) Ellen kept 3x5" index cards showing his show record in performance and halter classes for 1968. Now THAT is early organized model horse hobby history.

This is one of his actual show photos.

UNKNOWN MAKERS

It was not uncommon for photo A shower to have a very diverse show string. I don't have any information on the maker(s) of these next four vintage model horses. The Appaloosa and the buckskin may have been made by a company called Hampshire Hill or Hills.  If any of my readers have additional information, please share it in the comments below!

This next one has the name and address of hobbyist Jo Maness in Texas written on the back. No information about the horse or its maker, though.

No information on the maker of this horse.

I have no information on the maker or identity of this cheeky pony. But look at that face. 

BESWICKS

In Ellen's day, a Beswick (England) horse could compete well against horses by other makers. They could be difficult to find, unless you had a source near the Canadian border or a high-end gift store in your area. Ellen had several very nice examples in her photo show string.

Ellen didn't write the name of this Beswick "Therese of Leam" Connemara Mare on the back of the photo.

This Beswick "Coed Coch Madog" Welsh Pony is also unnamed. 

This is *Skye Cameron, a matte brown Beswick Quarter Horse.

Minderbender, a Beswick matte brown "Bois Roussel."

FLOCKED MODEL HORSES

Back in the day, it was not uncommon for hobbyists to customize their own models with flocking. Ellen had several flocked model horses in her herd. This flocked Breyer Proud Arabian Mare was called Serante.

This flocked Breyer Western Prancer was shown as Allah Rakida.  Note the date on the side of the photo print, July 1970.

This Breyer stretched Morgan was shown as Allah Raseyn, an Arabian stallion. 

Here's a smaller flockie, this time a foal made overseas. He is either ceramic "Made in Japan" or plastic underneath the flocking. If I recall correctly, this mold was about the size of a Breyer "Classic" foal.

CUSTOMIZED MODEL HORSES WITH BIG HAIR

Several of Ellen's photos show vintage custom model horses with what appear to be thick yarn manes and tails. Their photos are dated 1973. There's no information about their names or creator(s) on the backs of the pictures.

HARTLAND HORSES

This Hartland 11-inch Quarter Horse is was customized as a pinto, shown under English tack 

This Hartland Arabian foal was named Antares and shown as a "Colombian Paso Foal." The name and address of Linda Mayfield of Los Angeles are hand-written on the back.

ORIGINAL FINISH BREYER HORSES

Ellen had an awesome collection of Breyer Proud Arabian Mares. Most of them were original finish "Old Mold" mares, made between 1956 and 1959. 

I have no information on them except Ellen's writing on the back of this group shot:

India

Sincerity

*Nafa

Surfilind

Seraphim

Royalindy

Wine Tumbler

(not shown: White Dove, *Serante')

There's no date on the photo. I'm assuming Surfilind was repainted (customized); there were no other photos of her. 

India had an Old Mold Proud Arabian foal called Silver Faranah. They are shown in this photo.

Wine Tumbler is the rare Appaloosa Old Mold PAM, shown here under Western tack with India.

Online hobby sources, including the Identify Your Breyer website, say there are only two known factory test Palomino Proud Arabian Mares that date to 1971. Ellen owned one of  them, and called her Spring Miraj. Three of her show photos date to June 1971.

The June 1971 date on the photos adds to this mare's backstory. I checked with Breyer expert Kirsten Wellman, who currently owns her. Kirsten wrote on her website:

The palomino PAM was long thought to be a hobby myth, and this gal is very probably the model at the root of the stories. She is a test run that dates from around 1970 or 1971. At that time, Breyer had re-acquired the rights to produce the PAM, and as a "new mold" model with a stamp, this mare is thought to have been a test run for the new mold PAMs. They were ultimately released in mahogany, alabaster, and dapple grey, but not palomino.

In 1971, renowned hobbyist, collector, and Breyer consultant Marney Walerius brought this model home from the factory, and it has been in collectors' hands ever since. I am guessing that Breyer opted not to produce the Proud Arabs in palomino because the Family Arabs were already available in that color and had been for some time.

http://www.whitehorseproductions.com/collection_breyers_pams.html

Now we know that another of the collectors who owned her, at some point, was Ellen Hitchins. 

The grass in this photo appears different than in the photo dated June 1971 in the border. I wonder if it was taken before, or after, June 1971?

Wood Moss was a Breyer Woodgrain Stretched Morgan stallion with a variety of halter and performance show photos.

METAL QUARTER HORSE 

This Quarter Horse stallion was called Wise Decision. I'm not sure of the maker, but he appears to be a metal trophy top.

Film and processing were relatively expensive, on a young person's budget, and color film and processing even more so. I remember entering photo shows in the mid-1970s that had a mix of entries in black and white and color. 

Some of Ellen's black and white photos are just small works of art.

I'm hoping that once I share this post, other older hobbyists will respond and give me more information, or clarify the information, on the horses shown here. That's one of the many ways we learn more about the genesis of the organized model horse hobby, from the late 1960s to early 1970s.