Tin figure

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Tin figures

A pewter figure is a sculpture made from the materials tin , antimony , bismuth and possibly lead , among other things .

history

Boy with Pewter Figures (19th Century)
Tin soldiers

Tin figures were probably already widespread in ancient Greece and the Roman Empire . The oldest known German tin figure dates from the beginning of the 13th century and was discovered near Magdeburg . At first, tin figures were probably used as pilgrim signs.

From around 1550 the pewter figurine was given an ever larger space in social life. Nuremberg and later also Fürth were the most important centers in Germany from which this development started. From the middle of the 18th century, the pewter figure began its triumphal march in German (and foreign) children's rooms, which only came to an abrupt end with the First World War .

There are tin figures as fully plastic, semi-plastic and flat figures in all sizes and scales. The most common size of the flat figures is 28 mm eye level; it is called Nürnberger Maß or Nürnberger size.

Tin figures were initially "educational toys" with which children should be introduced to the "big wide world" or the gender-specific role of men and women. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the tin soldiers became increasingly important and pushed the other game options to the edge. Only pewter jewelry (for example for Christmas) was even more important.

From the middle of the 19th century onwards, the Nuremberg Offizin Heinrichsen was the world market leader and still exists today.

Artists such as Carl Alexander Heideloff, his brother Manfred, Wilhelm Camphausen and others provided designs. At the beginning they were mostly kept flat, but were later sculpted and painted according to the models. From around 1920 the toy “tin figure” was given a new role. The figures were made more realistic, and adults began to collect “cultural-historical pewter figures”. The aim was to present German and international history as precisely as possible and make it clearer to the respective generation.

Well-known authors such as Joachim Ringelnatz or Hans Christian Andersen ( The steadfast tin soldier ) set literary monuments to the tin figure.

Tin figures today

Today there are tin figures from all areas of the performing arts, from historical figures to fantasy / science fiction to Christmas tree decorations. The historical themes range from the dinosaurs to Napoleon to the moon landing. The increased spread of tabletop games (e.g. Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 ) has led to a veritable renaissance of the tin figure among game fans.

Every two years (in years with an odd number) the German and International Tin Figure Exchange takes place in Kulmbach , where collectors and sellers from all over the world meet. Pewter figures have been and are often designed, modeled / engraved and painted by well-known national and international artists so that they can represent great value.

Exemplary casting of tin figures in metal molds

Many German tin figure collectors are in the "Klio, German society of friends and collectors of cultural-historical tin figures e. V. “organized. Another important association is the “Vereinigung Freie Zinnfigurensammler e. V. “A large number of foreign collectors have also joined both societies. There are also individual working groups or regional groups of the Klio such as the Klio Landesgruppe Baden-Württemberg e. V.

Tin figure collections

The German Tin Figure Museum is located on the Plassenburg in Kulmbach . Another German tin figure museum can be visited in Goslar . Several dioramas on southern German history are exhibited in the Zinnfigurenklause in Freiburg im Breisgau . The Torhaus Dölitz near Leipzig also houses an extensive collection of pewter figures and dioramas. In Austria, those interested can visit the “Pewter Figure World Katzelsdorf”. Smaller regional exhibitions complement these larger museums. Many museums use tin figures as illustrative material or show, such as the open-air museum Roscheider Hof , tin figure collections (for example, the museum has housed the tin figure collection of Klaus Gerteis since 2005 ). The collection of the travel writer Colin Ross wants Henriette von Schirach immediately after his death in 1945 at the common residence Urfeld in Walchensee have sunk.

Manufacturing

How a pewter figure is made, demonstrated by Klaus Gerteis in the open-air museum Roscheider Hof , Konz
Example of a slate mold (Z. Breyer, G. Rieger)

First of all, the prospect begins to want a certain figure. If this figure can be bought, that's not a problem. If what you want does not yet exist, you look for appropriate templates that can serve as a model.

The so-called publisher then instructs a draftsman to create the corresponding template drawings.

Then an engraver receives the order to engrave or cut a corresponding shape made of slate, brass, aluminum or silicone. A mixture of the metals tin, lead, antimony and, if necessary, bismuth is used as casting material. Tin and lead make up the main components, while the proportion of antimony is only between two and seven percent. The exact weight proportions are the secret of the respective manufacturer.

After the casting, the figure is plastered or cleaned. Fully plastic figures often still have to be assembled.

The collector can paint the figures using appropriate templates . The most common are acrylic and (artist) oil paints. Pewter figures are rarely painted with watercolors.

The finished figures are often presented in a diorama . Pewter is used as room decoration, for example on the wall, window or Christmas tree. In the English-speaking world in particular, tin figures are often used for war games (wargames or tabletop games).

Risks

Tin figures are - depending on their quality - threatened by inexorable decay within a few months as a result of an infestation by the tin plague .

literature

  • Ignacio Czeguhn, Martin Schabenstiel, Erhard Schraudolph, Alfred R. Sulzer: tin figures from the Allgeyer office. A dream factory in Fürth in the 19th century. Küsnacht ZH, 2017, ISBN 978-3-033-06240-5
  • Hanns-Ulrich Haedeke: Sächsisches Zinn , Prisma-Verlag Zenner and Gürchott, Leipzig 1975
  • Alfred R. Sulzer: 150 years of the finest tin composition figures Enst Heinrichsen, Nuremberg . Published by the Zinnfiguren-Museum Zürich and the Figurina Helvetica, Zürich 1989
  • Alfred R. Sulzer: Toy Figures of the First and Second Empire . Arenenberg 1996, ISBN 3-7196-000-3-3
  • Marion Faber, Brigitte Grobe, Erhard Schraudolph, Helmut Schwarz, Alfred R. Sulzer: Paradestücke. Tin figures from Nuremberg and Fürth. Published by the Nuremberg Toy Museum, ISBN 3-921590-81-7 .
  • Manfred Fürst, Martin Schabenstiel, Erhard Schraudolph, Alfred R. Sulzer and Florian Wilke: “Everything belongs to the king, including your toys” - tin figures from the Kingdom of Hanover. Verlag Edition, 2008, ISBN 3-933124-34-4
  • Theodor Hampe : The tin soldier. A German toy . Stubenrauch, Berlin 1924; Verlag Bernd Erigh, 1982 (reprint of the original)
  • Heinz Hartmann : History in Tin - from the GDR. 2., revised. Ed., Spurt-Verlag, Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-9811576-3-5
  • Krannich, Brock: The tin world of Franz Karl Mohr. Edition Krannich, 1997
  • Krannich, Brock: The Pewter World of Franz Karl Mohr II. Edition Krannich, 1998
  • Krog, Krannich: Otto Gottstein and the beginning of the cultural-historical tin figure. Edition Krannich, 2000
  • Krannich: Kiel tin figures. Krannich, Krannich, 2002
  • Krannich: Kieler Zinnfiguren II. Krannich, Edition Krannich, 2003
  • Erhard Schraudolph, Manfred Fürst, Florian Wilke, Martin Schabenstiel, Alfred R. Sulzer, Gerhard Fischer: "We are all black mounted" tin figures from the Duchy of Braunschweig . Edition Krannich, 2011, ISBN 3-933124-41-7
  • Peter Krenn : tin figures. Special exhibition in the Landeszeughaus , June 13th – 7th September 1980, Landeszeughaus Verlag, Graz 1980
  • Harald Kebbel, Renate Kebbel: Bruckman's manual of tin figures. Bruckman KG, Munich, 1978, ISBN 3-7654-1706-8
  • Curt F. Kollbrunner: tin figures, tin soldiers, tin history. Hirmer Verlag, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-7774-3110-9
  • Klaus Gerteis, Wolfgang Mössner: 75 years of the German Tin Figure Museum. History of the tin figure - history with tin figures. Friends of Plassenburg, Kulmbach 2004, ISBN 3-925162-22-4
  • Erwin Ortmann: tin figures then and now . Edition Leipzig, Leipzig 1973
  • Paul Ernst Rattelmüller: tin figures. The world in a chip box . Süddeutscher Verlag, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7991-5679-8
  • Michael Ritter, Martin Sauter: The world in tin. Pewter figures as toys and collectibles . Swabian Folklore Museum, Gessertshausen 2002
  • Hans-Jürgen Zimmermann: The tin figure manual. Idea, draft, drawing, engraving, casting, painting, diorama construction, photography and film . Franckh, Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-440-05154-4
  • Martin Sauter: Magnificent pieces. Stories, myths and events in pewter . District of Swabia, exhibition Schloss Höchstädt 2006/07 for the Bundestag conference of KLIO

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Zinnfigur  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Henriette von Schirach The price of glory 1956 p. 120 f. The book mentions other hiding spots where no trace of the alleged treasure has been found.
  2. Julia Littmann: New historical scene in the Zinnfigurenklause : badische-zeitung.de, June 1, 2012 (August 8, 2012)