Man on a Horse

Man on a Horse

May 10

Here’s a great piece with an even better story behind it.

There’s no way I could tell the story and do it any justice. So here’s the great story directly from Arlene Wagner (Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum):

 

“After the  antique shops closed on Portabello Road in London, George and I went pubbing with David Levi and Rik Gijsen.  After a few, the guys were all feeling good and one antique dealer asked Rik if he was interested in buying a nutcracker he had with him.  Said it would be 100 pounds since it was just “half a horse”  whereas a whole horse would be about 500.  A bit of dickering went on, and Rik agreed to buy “half a horse” without seeing what he was getting.  Well, indeed it is just that, the horse’s whole head and the rider’s R arm is missing!!  I have kept this thing all these years laughing each time I see it, and remembering the good times we used to have antiquing with Rik.   I think it is time to have it repaired!!!

The picture shows what I believe is a donkey, but to go with the story, I think you could make it into a horse!!    Arlene“

 

So I did just that. Sticking to the story, I added a horse’s head and tail to this piece, stabilized and repaired the cracks, carved him new arms, and gave him some rope to fit his new role as a horse rider.

The pictures below show what the piece looked like when it came in missing all its pieces and parts. I also included a picture of what it is supposed to look like in regards to him riding a donkey then what it looks like now all converted over to a horse.

This was a very challenging piece to do, but the story behind it made it fun.

Arlene is thrilled with the piece and can’t wait for Rik to see it when he visits her this July.

 

The shop still has a steady flow of repairs coming through.

Stay tuned for some more really great pieces!

—– Brandon