DOI Heft:
No. 161 (August, 1906)
DOI Artikel:Levetus, A. S.: Modern Viennese toys
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0239
Modern Viennese Toys
BY FANNY ZAKUCKA-HARLFINGER
of making figures and animals. Frau Zakucka-
Harlfinger and Fraulein Podhajska are both pupils
of Professor Bohm, at the Kunstschule fur Frauen
und Madchen, Vienna—an art school set apart
exclusively for females. They turned their thoughts
to toy-making some three years ago, and, like Frau-
lein von Uchatius, have been very successful in
their achievements. Their methods, however, are
very different; for while she chiefly uses the saw
and carpenter’s bench, these two ladies follow the
turner’s methods, using his tools and lathe. Their
toys are turned from round forms. This is in itself
an interesting fact. These designers have studied
every branch of their art; they have worked at the
lathe, and resorted to everything which could pos-
sibly help them. Frau Zakucka-Harlfinger has also
constructed a village, but it differs from that of
Fraulein von Uchatius, because she is of another
race; the former’s figures (of which some are re-
produced) are typical of the regions nearest to
her—Salzburg and Bohemia. So exact are her
types that the authorities at
Salzburg have purchased
her figures, and also
awarded her a prize for
them, and it is their inten-
tion to have them made in
large quantities and placed
on the market. Many of
the figures are movable,
being worked with strings.
She paints each figure her-
self, no two of them being
alike, and delights in her
work.
Fraulein Minka Pod-
hajska is a Moravian, and
devotes, her attention to
animals. Like Frau • Za-
kucka-Harlfinger, she has
a fine sense of decorative fig. 12. toys
art, which is inborn in the
native population of these
Crown Lands, as is mani-
fest alike in the remote
villages and in the towns,
especially on market days,
when the large gathering
of the people in their pic-
turesque attire forms a
brilliant scene. Though
Fraulein Podhajska never
decides what animal she is
going to make till the lathe
has done its work, her achievements in the art of
toy-making are great. The limbs naturally are
added afterwards. She possesses a lively fancy
and a sure eye for form and colour, and in further-
ing this branch of art she has spared no pains.
The cats in Fig. 3 are delightful creatures which
would charm any child, as would also the turkey-
cocks which so proudly strut along. Indeed, all
the animals made by this designer have a remark-
ably natural appearance, and this indeed is the
keynote of all these modern toys.
Fraulein Wachsmann has gone to another branch,
namely, the making of mechanical toys. It is
indeed a most interesting fact that so many different
fields of toy-making have been explored, so that
each artist has been able to devote her energy in
one direction, with resulting success from an artistic
point of view. They have also shown much energy
in putting them on the market. Two years ago
a booth was erected in one of the most frequented
parts of the city, the designers being for the nonce
BY FERDINAND ANDRI
2lS
BY FANNY ZAKUCKA-HARLFINGER
of making figures and animals. Frau Zakucka-
Harlfinger and Fraulein Podhajska are both pupils
of Professor Bohm, at the Kunstschule fur Frauen
und Madchen, Vienna—an art school set apart
exclusively for females. They turned their thoughts
to toy-making some three years ago, and, like Frau-
lein von Uchatius, have been very successful in
their achievements. Their methods, however, are
very different; for while she chiefly uses the saw
and carpenter’s bench, these two ladies follow the
turner’s methods, using his tools and lathe. Their
toys are turned from round forms. This is in itself
an interesting fact. These designers have studied
every branch of their art; they have worked at the
lathe, and resorted to everything which could pos-
sibly help them. Frau Zakucka-Harlfinger has also
constructed a village, but it differs from that of
Fraulein von Uchatius, because she is of another
race; the former’s figures (of which some are re-
produced) are typical of the regions nearest to
her—Salzburg and Bohemia. So exact are her
types that the authorities at
Salzburg have purchased
her figures, and also
awarded her a prize for
them, and it is their inten-
tion to have them made in
large quantities and placed
on the market. Many of
the figures are movable,
being worked with strings.
She paints each figure her-
self, no two of them being
alike, and delights in her
work.
Fraulein Minka Pod-
hajska is a Moravian, and
devotes, her attention to
animals. Like Frau • Za-
kucka-Harlfinger, she has
a fine sense of decorative fig. 12. toys
art, which is inborn in the
native population of these
Crown Lands, as is mani-
fest alike in the remote
villages and in the towns,
especially on market days,
when the large gathering
of the people in their pic-
turesque attire forms a
brilliant scene. Though
Fraulein Podhajska never
decides what animal she is
going to make till the lathe
has done its work, her achievements in the art of
toy-making are great. The limbs naturally are
added afterwards. She possesses a lively fancy
and a sure eye for form and colour, and in further-
ing this branch of art she has spared no pains.
The cats in Fig. 3 are delightful creatures which
would charm any child, as would also the turkey-
cocks which so proudly strut along. Indeed, all
the animals made by this designer have a remark-
ably natural appearance, and this indeed is the
keynote of all these modern toys.
Fraulein Wachsmann has gone to another branch,
namely, the making of mechanical toys. It is
indeed a most interesting fact that so many different
fields of toy-making have been explored, so that
each artist has been able to devote her energy in
one direction, with resulting success from an artistic
point of view. They have also shown much energy
in putting them on the market. Two years ago
a booth was erected in one of the most frequented
parts of the city, the designers being for the nonce
BY FERDINAND ANDRI
2lS