Hagen-Renaker Miniature Horses of a Different Color...and Friends

Collectors who value vintage model horse figurines sometimes wish we could travel back in time, to see the horses when they were new, and meet the people who created them (and, it goes without saying, bring a few of the horses back to the twenty-first century with us.)  That's why it's always a joy to "liberate" an old Hagen-Renaker horse figurine from a second-hand location: it's a little like being able to time-travel.

Recently, I was able to buy some Hagen-Renaker miniature figurines that came from an interesting time and place: several years ago, they had come from the collection of a former H-R employee, who had taken the horses and other H-R figurines home from work with her.

The people who bought the collection years ago, stuck the small boxes in their storage unit and only retrieved them recently. And, fortunately, they called me, and I went zooming out to collect the collection as fast as local traffic and prudence would allow.

I created a post on the more common horses from this collection; it's here: 

https://modelhorsehistory.blogspot.com/2019/09/vintage-hagen-renaker-miniature-horses.html?fbclid=IwAR0FRSqSrcmQvx8BzWd7T8EVJPMgLfu7J5BA_wBBIAomTI7dKmZK0kE3iZI

Along with the horses were many other miniature Hagen-Renaker figurines -- birds, snails, cats, sheep, licensed Disney character pieces -- including some factory test color pieces.  I'll show you the horses first, and then a few of the other test color animals.

(Note to my fellow collectors: most of the pieces shown are not for sale.)

The first piece is one of the earliest Hagen-Renaker horses (from before Maureen Love started designing for the company).  I've never seen one of these in gray before.

A-61 Draft Horse, Comical, designed by Helen Perrin Farnlund.
Issued in chestnut and palomino, Spring 1949-Spring 1951.  But this jaunty fellow is gray! 

The pour holes in his hooves, rather than in his belly, indicate that he is an earlier piece.

The other horse that appears to be a factory test color, is the A-363 Yearling, Turning, by Maureen Love, in what is unmistakably a chestnut color. 

The design was first issued Spring 1958-Fall 1959 in bay or buckskin, gloss or matte.  Here is the chestnut between a matte bay and a gloss buckskin.

Yes, it's a shame about his foreleg going missing at some point over the last 60 years. But he's still very special.  I took another photo of him with some of the chestnut mini Morgans from roughly the same era. 

The Yearling is a slightly smaller scale than the mini Morgans, and his A-363 number predates the A-388 Morgan mare, A-389 Morgan stallion, and A-390 Morgan foal, resting foot.  

Most of the rest of the collection I purchased included pieces from 1948-1961.  These included a lot of fun surprises.

Here are two of the larger licensed Walt Disney figurines.

Hagen-Renaker Dumbo, Seated, 3.75" tall, designed by Don Winton, issued Fall 1956.

Jiminy Cricket, 3.5" tall, designed by Helen Perrin Farnlund,
issued Fall 1956.  Fortunately the break is clean and can be easily repaired.

And some other harder-to-find Hagen-Renaker animals:

A-13 Sheep, designed by Helen Perrin Farnlund, issued Spring-Fall 1949 only, and A-35 Early Lamb, second version (ear out), also by Helen, issued Spring 1949-Spring 1951.  Those faces!

And some test color critters!

Escargot 'a pois: A-79 Escargot Maman and A-80 Bebe'(s) in factory test colors.  
These designs were first issued in 1950.
Polka. Dot. Snails!

A conga line of test color A-74 Kittens, Noses Up,
by Helen Perrin Farnlund, dating to 1950-52. 
Each one is different! 
Even the ones in the same colors have different details on their eyes and feet.
The orange tabby on the far right was a regular colorway,
but has different shading than others I have seen.

The A-75 Cygnet, Swimming, was issued in yellow in 1950. 
But these little swans-in-the-making, designed by Helen Perrin Farnlund,
are gray and "tuxedo" black-and-white. (In real life, cygnets are gray when first hatched.)

The A-228 Pond was designed by Tom Masterson and was first issued in Spring 1954.

I have no idea where the cattails came from -- they don't appear to be ceramic! --
but they were with the pond in the collection from the former H-R employee, so I am including them here.

There were more! But for a model horse-focused blog, I think this is enough for now.  My "find" of these time-traveling miniature Hagen-Renaker figurines gives us a snapshot of the early days of the company, the variety of the designs, the creative process that went on as the company decided which colorways to put into its regular run items, and the unmistakable sense of joy that characterizes Hagen-Renaker's ceramic designs.