The NCA Carousel Identification Project on this page was completed on 04/16/2012
The Request:
The thickness of the horse is 41/2 inches, 27 inches long, 40 inches tall. Under the metal plate on its head there is a hollowed out place where there was an old copper light socket of some sort. There is a small hole drilled through to the bottom of the horse where there is a small metal plate with some old bare wire running from it up into the hole that was drilled through the horse. I believe the horse was bolted to a platform and made an electrical connection through the metal plate. I think the wood plug in the horse’s eye was added later and it used to have a lens over it. The whole things covered in shellac that has darkened and cracked badly. On the back behind the seat it has the number 11 out. Its seat was a velvet material that was recovered in leather. Thank you so much for your time I’ve been having little luck with Google.
The NCA Conclusion:
Your wood horse is a figure from a Noah’s Ark riding device made in Great Britain. The earlier Noah’s Arks were Orton & Spooner (red seats, foam filled, animals painted light brown); however the vast majority were by Lakins of Streatham (a suburb of London) who was working until the second world war. The velvet covered saddle doesn’t sound compatible with Orton & Spooner’s foam filled seat. This is most likely a Lakins figure.
