A friend found this on an old amish site

[imafishingnutt]

A friend found this on an old amish site
I told him how good you all were at dating so dont let me down .lol
heres a picture of it.
and yes i know its a rabbit.
its heavy
i think it is lead.
maby 1 and 1/2 inch tall
found at 12 inches down with DFX

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

It's definitely not lead, for two reasons:
1- Pure lead is too soft. The rabbit's long ears would bend very easily.
2- It shows no sign at all of lead-oxidation, despite being being buried in the ground for quite a few years. (Yes, the paint would inhibit oxidation for a while... but it looks like the paint has been gone from some areas for a long time.

There are several alloys of "white metals" which are much harder than lead, and therefore would be preferable for cast-metal animal figurines which have long narrow parts. The rabbit might be pewter, or perhaps white-tombac, or even a hard-solder alloy.

Sorry, I cannot help much about a date, except for the info above, because cast-metal animal figurines have not been in my area of Historical studies.

The item's heaviness relative to its small size could be a result of being solid-cast rather than a hollow casting.

 

[DigginThePast]

Sorry, but dating a rabbit in my State is illegal.


To me, its reminiscent of other painted lead alloy toys from the 30's-40's era, got a bunch of them from when my Father was a kid (nothing exactly like yours though). Neat find.

 

[imafishingnutt]

It's definitely not lead, for two reasons:
1- Pure lead is too soft. The rabbit's long ears would bend very easily.
2- It shows no sign at all of lead-oxidation, despite being being buried in the ground for quite a few years. (Yes, the paint would inhibit oxidation for a while... but it looks like the paint has been gone from some areas for a long time.

There are several alloys of "white metals" which are much harder than lead, and therefore would be preferable for cast-metal animal figurines which have long narrow parts. The rabbit might be pewter, or perhaps white-tombac, or even a hard-solder alloy.

Sorry, I cannot help much about a date, except for the info above, because cast-metal animal figurines have not been in my area of Historical studies.

The item's heaviness relative to its small size could be a result of being solid-cast rather than a hollow casting.

Im pretty sure that6 Germany mad small lead toys of pure lead I have some lead ingots i found from the 1800s and they also look the same color. I didnt know lead corrodes i know it does with acid
But we see what everyone comes up with
thank you for your help.

 

[Breezie]

Your rabbit looks to be painted lead. It was either made by W.Britain of England (look on the bottom and see if you see the word 'Britain') or a Britain copy-cat company or either it was German made. The red paint under the eyes looks very German. I have found many vintage Britain painted lead soldiers that did not have the white patina like CW lead bullets. As far as the age is concerned, William Britain starting making hollow cast lead figures in 1893 and stopped in 1966. You might want to research various German lead figure makers; Putz, Heinrichsen. Barclay is an option too.Cute find and just in time for Easter, Breezie

 

[ivan salis]

it might be a form of "painted" cast lead orpewter * pewter is heavy like lead and looks a good deal like lead but is much harder --it was heavily used in the past for many differant uses .

many amish were "dutch amish" and spoke german and some germans were amish too -- so I 'd say good chance its german made.

 

[stefen]

The term "Dutch" (or Deitsch) is an archaic term for Germans, and refers to the German-speaking origins....

 

[DevilDog812]

we used to have a painted lead or cast iron swan on a base that i believe was to be used as a doorstop
either that or it was just convenient for us

 

[DirtDigler]

Until around the turn of the 20th century, the dangers of lead were unknown. CW soldiers used to carve lead, chew lead and even make lead tobacco pipes. Cans of food were soldered with lead and, of course, toys were cast of lead and painted. That said, lead was soft and heavy. Britannia pewter and white metal were often used for toys. Some with a high lead content.

 

[CRUSADER]

Looks painted Lead-alloy to me

 

[stefen]

In the late 1800's, animals of all sorts were cast of lead and cast-iron and used as Jardian or porch accents...

I have an big red antique CI cat the stood on my grandparents porch and now resides as a door stop...