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Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

By victoria.1951, 8 June, 2009
Description

squirrel sitting on half ball base with hole at bottom (not threaded). two holes under his tail lead to base. base unscrews revealing a round piece of wood with attached metal piece on bottom. attached to the metal and leading thru a whole in the wood and out one of the holes beneath his tail is what i think was once an electrical wire - many unraveled cloth threads surround several fine copper wires. if you put something into the hole at the bottom of the base, it would touch the metal piece attached to the wood.
i've shown this to several antique dealers and no one has any idea what it is.

Category
Other
Medium
brass
Distinguishing marks
none
Condition
Good
Size and dimensions of this item
1-3/4" high, 1-1/2" wide
Date Period
unknown
Weight
3 ounces
History
from thrift shop, unknown history
eBay Auction Link
Price Paid (If known)
25 cents
For Sale?
No
Photos

Anonymous (not verified)

16 years 1 month ago

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

Based on its size it would appear to be a lamp finial, used to mount the shade.

Lovejoy

No votes yet
Profile picture for user 250chief

250chief

16 years 1 month ago

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

Wow.

I believe this is similar to another item I saw about 30 years ago. Haven't seen another since.

I believe you have have a remote switch that was used on a lamp or a toy.

There would be a wooden peg that, once you sat the squirrel on it, would depress the metal tab you see inside the acorn to complete the circuit. The lamp (in this case shaped like a tree most likely with the peg on the base) would then illuminate or the toy (could be many things, ie merry go round with animals on it) would do it's thing.

Not the safest of novelty switches, so they weren't around long I would think. (I was pretty young and not as interested in this stuff back then ). The contact would be fairly poor as the peg wears and doesn't hold as tightly, so that you would tend to get arcing. It was probably cut off and changed to a safer version later in it's life, but the squirrel was too cute to throw away.

Check with old toy collectors and old electric lamp collectors to see what they say!

250chief

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Anonymous (not verified)

16 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY? by 250chief

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

250chief,
thanks! sounds like the most logical use i've heard so far. will do some more research now that you've narrowed the parameters for me. if i find out anything definitive, i'll post it for future generations!

No votes yet
Profile picture for user 250chief

250chief

16 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY? by Anonymous (not verified)

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

Great! I look forward to hearing what you found!

I'd focus on the "art nouveau" period, that was when manufacturing forms were in more 'organic - back to nature' styles rather than the "art deco" period where it was more angular and architectural in form.

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Anonymous (not verified)

16 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY? by 250chief

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

There is nothing Art Nouveau about this piece ;~)

Lovejoy

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Profile picture for user 250chief

250chief

16 years 1 month ago

In reply to Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY? by Anonymous (not verified)

Re: Brass Squirrel ELECTRICAL? TOY?

Humm, agreed, but I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say 'nothing'. Recall that I am only suggesting this is a smaller piece of a larger unit - similar to the finial suggested earlier, and could be part of such a form. For example: I do an online search for 'art nouveau lamps' and immediately turn up a Tiffany with a tree form, another lamp with a crane form, even one with a frog on it ... So I'd personally believe a squirrel isn't that far a reach.

But my intent was to try and fix a date to start looking by genera, not to suggest it was specifically 'art nouveau' in form/function. I find that society tends to follow trends so if, for example, there is a big interest in space (i.e. sputnik era) then the furniture, toys, barometers, etc. tend to all follow that form.

The art nouveau period, as I understand it, was centered in the late 1800's early 1900's and was based mainly on "sinuous organic forms", primarily plant formats. I note that while most are trees (and girls), many also incorporated other animal life - especially if they were associated with the plant form being depicted. This is why I believe I often see birds etc. incorporated with them.

So I would expect most other items of that time to be along the same, let's call it "nature" then, theme. Personally, I'd lean toward this object being more likely for something like a toy than something like a lamp. I say this simply because I'd build it with the peg part on the squirrel and thereby hide the wires in the base, but I can believe it going either way. Nobody is necessarily suggesting it had to come off a high end product line after all.

It will be interesting to see what turns up!

Many thanks for your observation though, it is quite valid and it helps me clarify here what I was thinking. Sometimes I forget people can't see my thoughts, just human I guess!

250chief

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