Pulley Sheep, model magic, wood, aluminum foil, acrylic paint, and enamel. Inspired by circa 1870 Library Company photographs of children, oldwoodentoys.com, and Illustrations of Schoenhut's Marvelous Toys. The Humpty Dumpty Circus. Philadelphia: The A. Schoenhut Co., 1918.

The pull animal is a staple toy. You see it in almost every decade from 1850, up to and including today. And while the type of animal and material used may change, the basic idea remains the same: an upright animal on four wheels that acts as a surrogate pet.

 

For this piece, I used a combination of found objects and constructed materials. The wheels were taken from a modern-day toy truck, while the body and legs were made from foam and sticks. I tried to make the sheep’s face similar to the circus animals advertised in the A. Schoenhut Company catalog (illustrated on this page) and his form round enough for the little hands of a child.